Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage
by Slinking Fox
Summary: Hasegawa Sachiko-kun. The game to decide your future has started. But when you're a weird, hotheaded eleven year old with an addiction to cinnamon buns, that game is easier said than played. But then again, with the spirit of Courage and her friends - Guardians and Warriors alike - Sachiko may just be able to survive this game and mend a broken bond, even with her traumatic past.
1. Densetsu no Tōshi! Honō no Agnimon!

I only own my OCs and the changes in the plot. Just so you know, I'm pretty much going to be going from memory… except for the Digivices; anything that was actually in the episodes that concerned the Digivices talking is 100% accurate. Oh, and I own the very pissed off voice too.

* * *

_Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light – Helen Keller_

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage  
****Chapter One  
****Densetsu no Tōshi! Honō no Agnimon!**

* * *

Hasegawa Sachiko sighed as she flopped back against the black, velvet cushions bordering the couch in the middle of her living room, feeling her eyelids droop as she and her best – and possibly only – friend struggled to ignore the sounds of her mother and younger sister listening to some Irish-British boy band that had landed in Tokyo the night before, "This. Is. Pointless."

"Come on, Sachiko," her friend – Chiba Koike – groaned, allowing his head to fall sideways onto his crossed arms. "You know this stuff!"

"Not before an exam," Sachiko smirked slightly as she pulled her waist-length, fox-coloured hair into a ponytail. "It's a scientifically proven fact that just before exams, I forget everything that I learned that year."

"Just because your dad thinks it's true doesn't mean that it's a scientific fact," Koike rolled his eyes – remembering that Sachiko's father was a scientist – before turning back to the music book that he and the fox-haired girl were struggling to study, blowing a mousey lock of hair out of his acidic eyes.

"Does too," Sachiko pouted childishly before tapping a pencil against her teeth and looking at the book again. "Okay, 'which of the following was typically used in the symphonic finale in the Classical Era; fugue, minuet, rondo or tremolo'?"

"…Maybe you're right," Koike sighed after a moment, slamming the accursed book closed. "This is pointless."

"Told you so!" Sachiko smirked slightly before looking up as her mother walked towards them.

"If you're finished studying, could you run to the bakery for me? We're out of bread."

"Okaa-san," Sachiko whined, sticking her lower lip out only to be cut off by the elder Hasegawa.

"You can get some of the day-old cinnamon buns!"

After a moment, Sachiko nodded happily, "Deal! Thanks Okaa-san!"

Frowning as her daughter pulled on a pair of black running shoes – followed by Koike – her mother pulled out her purse, "But I haven't given you any money!"

"I already have some!" Sachiko yelled in reply as she sprinted out of the house, her navy hoodie half on as Koike stumbled after her, still trying to pull on one shoe. "Cinnamon buns are too good to wait for!"

"Eh, thanks for lunch, Hasegawa-san!" Koike called hurriedly as he caught up to Sachiko and the fox-haired girl's mother shook her head in half-exasperation, half-amusement before closing the door.

* * *

"That'll be two hundred and fifty seven yen," the woman behind the counter smiled warmly as the bag containing several cinnamon buns and a loaf of bread was exchanged for said amount of money. "Have a nice day!"

"Thanks!" Sachiko called in reply as she and Koike walked out of the bakery, a cinnamon bun in hand. "So…what do you want to do?"

Before Koike could answer, Sachiko yelped slightly as someone knocked into her, "Hey!"

Glaring at the boy's back as he kept walking, Sachiko grabbed his shoulder, "When you bump into someone, you're supposed to say 'sorry'. It's common courtesy."

Blinking in surprise as the boy turned around to reveal a pale face with cobalt eyes and a ponytail of raven hair covered by a bandana, Sachiko's grip slackened slightly, "Oh, Minamoto. Didn't realise it was you."

"Hn," was her only reply as the raven began to walk away, only to be pulled back again. "Do you want something? Because I've got better things to do than listen to you just babble randomly."

"Just because others are scared of you doesn't mean I am," Sachiko warned, fist clenched as the raven – Minamoto Kouji – narrowed his eyes.

"I don't hit girls."

"Pity; I do," Sachiko smirked at his anger before moving to hit him, only to have her arm twisted behind her back.

"But I never said I didn't fight them."

Glaring at the raven, Sachiko kicked his shin and sharply leaned forwards so that he was thrown over her, landing on one knee.

"Not bad, Hasegawa," Kouji nodded slightly before shoving his hands into his pockets, "but I still have better things to do."

"Jerk!" Sachiko called after him before glaring at the fallen bun which had been crushed during their small fight. "You owe me a cinnamon bun, you son of a-"

"Sachiko," Koike sighed, placing a hand on said ranting girl's shoulder, "he's not worth it."

"But-the-bun-he-crush-owe-delicious!" Sachiko stuttered, unable to think properly in her state of 'depression' due to her fallen treat.

"Just leave it," Koike sighed, forcing Sachiko to turn away only to crash into a raven-haired boy.

"Minamoto!" Sachiko shrieked only to blink at the slightly-shorter raven on the ground in front of her, his cobalt eyes wide, his pale face identical to Kouji's but his hair decidedly shorter at chin-length.

"Sorry!" the raven murmured hastily, bowing slightly as he struggled to stand only to fall again, blushing heavily.

"No; it was my fault," Sachiko sighed, reaching down a hand to help him up, smiling slightly. "I'm Hasegawa Sachiko."

"Chiba Koike," Koike grinned in greeting, handing Sachiko another cinnamon bun.

"K-Kimura Kouichi," the raven mumbled quietly before walking around the duo and quickly walking towards a flower shop only to dart out of sight as Kouji ran out of said shop.

"Yep; he's weird," Koike stretched slightly as Sachiko raised an eyebrow, pulling out her phone as it began beeping loudly.

"And we aren't?" before Koike could reply however, Sachiko glanced at her phone. "'Would you like to start… or not?'"

"Huh?" Koike glanced at her in confusion before pulling out his own phone and seeing the same message. "It's probably just an add or something."

"But anything's better than studying," Sachiko smirked slightly before pressing the 'yes' button given, shortly followed by the wary, mouse-haired boy.

_Hasegawa Sachiko-kun/Chiba Koike-kun. The game to decide your future has started._

"How do you know our names?!" Koike demanded before reading the writing on the screen. "'Please take the train from Jiyugaoka station to Shibuya and quarter to six.'"

"See?" Sachiko grinned before pulling Koike towards the train station – which was a few buildings away from them. "Way better than studying!"

"Except we don't have any money," Koike contradicted as the duo reached the ticket machines. "You blew it on the forty-something cinnamon buns you bought (A/N: Sachiko is really addicted)."

"Worth it!" Sachiko cried in resilience, slamming a hand into the ticket machine, causing to red tickets to fly out, one after the other.

Crouching down to pick them up, Sachiko smirked slightly before grabbing Koike's hand and pulling him onto the train, "See? If we paid for tickets we could have gotten for free, we would have lost a cinnamon bun!"

* * *

Sachiko sighed in relief as she flopped onto one of the seats bordering the wall of the train, Koike beside her, frowning with distaste as she saw none other than Kouji enter the cart, "Can we go to a different cart?"

"Sachiko, just leave it," Koike groaned, head hitting against the wall as the clock ticked closer to five forty five. "We don't have time anyway."

"We have fifty seven seconds and I'm using them to move!" Sachiko growled, pulling Koike into the next carriage just before the doors closed and a boy wearing goggles not unlike Sachiko's – only with a grey band instead of blue and a hat instead of the fox-haired girl's signature bandanas. Smiling at Koike, Sachiko sat down again, happy now that she was away from Kouji, "See? Isn't this brilliant?"

"I'm beginning to think that we have different definitions of the word 'brilliant'," Koike sighed, having almost gotten his arm caught between the doors before blinking as he spotted a familiar figure. "Kouichi."

"Huh?" said raven whipped around, his eyes wide in shock as he recognised the duo. "Koike, Sachiko…"

"Did you get a message too?" Sachiko held up her phone, pointing to the screen as Kouichi shook his head, a light blush of embarrassment dusting his cheeks as he ducked his head.

"No, I…I don't have a phone…"

"Seriously?" Koike frowned in confusion only to yelp slightly as Sachiko elbowed him sharply before glancing at her phone again, shortly followed by the two males, "'Please switch trains to the subway from Shibuya Station at six o'clock.'"

Gulping slightly as Sachiko's face reddened, her fists clenching having seen that it was five fifty four on her phone, Koike turned to Kouichi, a grimace on his face, "You might want to cover your ears…"

"What do you-?" before Kouichi could finish his question, Sachiko's knuckles whitened as she shrieked some undistinguishable words at the top of her voice. Dazed, Kouichi shook his head in a dizzy manner as Sachiko took a deep breath before cramming a cinnamon bun into her mouth, the volume of her yell having attracted the attention of even the goggle-headed boy from the cart beside theirs. "…mean…"

* * *

Sighing in relief as the train doors slid open, a voice droning the word 'Shibuya' repeatedly over the intercom, Sachiko dragged Koike and Kouichi alike off of the train, eyes narrowing in distaste as she saw Kouji walking towards a group of elevators.

Feeling Kouichi tense, Sachiko looked back to see him staring after Kouji, "Maybe…maybe he knows?"

"Ugh…I guess," Sachiko groaned, relenting and sprinting towards the elevators, fists clenching as the raven inside hit the 'close' button before shrieking, "Minamoto, you better open that door you son of a-!"

Hearing the foxette's enraged cry, Kouji glanced up in surprise and – seeing the trio and the goggle-headed boy rushing towards the elevator he was in – pounded the 'open' button before the doors could close and stepped sideways, allowing the two goggle-heads to crash headfirst into the wall while the other two males skidded to a halt.

Blinking slightly as Sachiko dizzily sang 'ring around the rosies' in a drunken manner, Kouichi glanced at Koike, "Is she okay?"

"Let me check," crouching down beside his friend as the doors finally closed, Koike sighed, "Sachiko, cinnamon bun."

"Cinnamon bun?!" immediately, Sachiko perked up causing Koike to shake his head in exasperation.

"Yep, she's fine."

However, the shorter-haired raven's attention had changed from concern for Sachiko to staring at Kouji as the trio glanced between them, "M-Minamoto…Kouji?"

Glaring at the boy – who pulled his blue cap further down, shielding his face – Kouji shoved his hands into his pockets, "How do you know my name?"

"I…" gulping slightly, Kouichi shook his head, backing away slightly, but by that stage, Kouji's glare was almost as lethal as Sachiko's scream.

"Answer me."

"You need to calm down," the male goggle-head groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "He probably just- whoa, how deep are we going?!"

Eyes wide, everyone slowly glanced up at the metre to see that they were below the lowest floor – B2 – and still descending at an alarmingly fast pace.

Yelping as they finally hit the ground, Sachiko shakily stood up with the help of Kouichi – who Koike glared at lightly – before glancing at her phone.

_This is the final choice. Will you get on? Or will you leave?_

Confused, Sachiko glanced up as Kouji ran out of the elevator to see several dozen kids around their age milling around the platform, climbing onto an assortment of brightly-coloured trains.

"Jackass," Sachiko mumbled under her breath before standing up and walking towards a light blue train with Koike while Kouichi muttered a quiet 'goodbye' before climbing onto a dark grey one beside theirs.

On the train, two identical girls with the same amber orbs of curiosity that swivelled around to greet the newcomers and the matching, unusual black-blue coloured hair.

Across from the identical duo sat another boy, his brown hair long, curly and in a ponytail similar to Kouji's, his hazel eyes standing out against his olive-tan skin.

After a moment, Sachiko cleared her throat slightly, "Awkward silence…uh, do you guys like cinnamon buns?"

One of the twins and the boy shook his head, but the twin on the left nodded frantically, smiling gratefully as Sachiko handed her one of the buns, "Thanks. I'm Akiyama Miyu, and this is my sister Mizu."

"Hasegawa Sachiko, and this is Chiba Koike," Sachiko bowed in greeting before everyone turned towards the other boy – who was tapping his finger absentmindedly on the seat.

Blinking, he glanced around, blushing slightly, "Uh, sorry… I'm Saruwatari Hatsuharu."

Nodding, Sachiko grinned happily as the train began moving, "Back in a moment!"

As the bandana-wearing goggle-head ran into the next cart, Koike shrugged apologetically, "She likes being outside when a train starts moving."

"She's weird," Miyu (the only reason Koike could tell who she was by the crumbs on the clothes she was wearing – which were identical to Mizu's) concluded before glancing up hopefully. "Do you think she'd give me another cinnamon bun?"

"Imoto-chan," Mizu sighed dramatically, "there's a fine line between liking something and being obsessed with it."

* * *

Sachiko smiled happily as she pushed open the door to the platform at the back, closing her eyes contentedly as the wind caressed her ponytail… only to flash open again as she heard yelp.

Glancing up, Sachiko's eyes widened, seeing Kouji fall to one knee, a grimace on his face; by that stage, the train would have been moving too fast for him to catch up to.

_But it's not too fast for me! _Sachiko smirked slightly before leaping off the edge and running back to Kouji, reaching down a hand, "Come on."

"Huh?" Kouji glanced up at her in confusion. "Weren't you just…?"

"Just take my hand," Sachiko growled, eyes narrowing as Kouji looked down, to proud to accept help. "You had your chance."

Reaching down, she grabbed the surprised raven around the waist and threw him over one shoulder before sprinting back towards the train – much to the shock of the boy from the elevator, who was watching them from a train beside theirs.

"What are you doing?!" Kouji cried as Sachiko's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Getting your sorry ass on a train."

Leaping forward, the duo was suspended in mid air and for a split second, Sachiko's hand flailed for the rail bordering the platform. Then, her hand closed around the metal and she swung onto the platform, depositing Kouji, gasping for breath.

Glaring at him lightly, Sachiko almost threw up the cinnamon buns that she had devoured already as she realised who she had just helped, "You owe me one, Minamoto."

Eyes wide, Kouji watched her walk into the train before shakily standing as the train sped into a tunnel, his heart pounding with adrenaline…and something else. Something that he hadn't felt in a long time.

* * *

"I'm _bored,_" Miyu whined while Sachiko slid from her seat to the floor, her mouth hanging open. "There's nothing to do…"

"There's shutting up," Kouji – who had joined the group of five after a few minutes due to the fact that there was no other compartments – suggested dryly only to receive a glare from the younger of the twins.

For a moment, she remained glaring at Kouji. Then she whined again, "_Anything _is better than this."

"How could someone confuse this with a game?" Mizu mumbled, pulling out her phone only to shriek as she was thrown into a rail bordering the seat that they were on and her twin fell on top of her.

"Does that answer your question?" Hatsuharu yelled as he flew past them into the actual wall of the train with Kouji and Koike while Sachiko grabbed hold of a rail to stay where she was.

After a minute however, the compartment lurched and everyone landed on the floor, Sachiko glancing out of the window before gulping violently.

"What's wrong?" Hatsuharu moved to look out of the window as well, but Sachiko pushed him away.

"You really don't want to know."

However, hearing hurried feet, Sachiko glanced up again to see everyone leaning out of another window. Smirking slightly, Hatsuharu walked towards it as well, "You forget about the other window."

"Damn it," Sachiko cursed, glancing out of the one on her side again to see – not only no ground beneath them – but land growing behind a station in front of them as well.

"That's..." Kouji cut himself off and scowled slightly before pulling out his phone as it began glowing – along with the others.

Sparks flew, blinding everyone and music lilted through the train followed by a loud clap of thunder that caused someone – no one was sure who – to yelp before everything faded into silence and replacing the phones were small, oval-y devices that could easily be hidden by clapping it between two hands.

The only difference between them was their colours; Kouji's was white with a navy grip while Hatsuharu's was a sky blue with a brown grip to match his brown Khaki trousers.

Sachiko's was bright orange with a navy grip similar to Kouji's, but Koike's was red with a maroon grip.

The twins' devices however would mean the end of confusion…as long as they were holding them. Miyu's was beige with a silver grip and a small smiley face on the top right corner whilst Mizu's was midnight blue with a violet grip.

_This is your Digivice. Welcome to the Digital World. Search for the Spirits and collect them._

Everyone – even Kouji – was staring at the so-called 'Digivices' in complete and utter shock…until a loud roar half-deafened them.

"Shut up!" Sachiko screamed equally loudly. "We're still back here!"

"I don't know who's louder," Koike shook his head in disbelief, wincing slightly.

Glaring down at her Digivice, Mizu gripped it tightly, "What the hell did you just do?!"

_She upgraded your shitty phone. You should be thanking her._

"You bitch!" Mizu yelled angrily. "I only just got that!"

_You would have broken it anyway; this is literally indestructible. _

"But you're not and you have to go outside sometime!" Mizu seethed at the voice – which suddenly seemed a lot more childish than it had when directing her and Miyu to the train station. It was silent after that.

Rolling his eyes, Kouji stood up as the train slowly eased into the station, quickly stepping outside before anything else weird could happen… only to yelp as everyone else landed on top of him, "Get off me. Now."

"I swear that wasn't us," Mizu groaned, glancing back at the train – which somehow managed to shrug.

"Not my fault you humans are clumsy."

"Did the train just…talk?" Miyu gasped as Kouji managed to stand up and walk a few feet away from the group – although Hatsuharu watched him out of the corner of his eye.

_Minamoto Kouji-kun, all the mysteries that surround you will be solved one day._

"How do you know my name?" Silence. "Just who are you? Why did you call me here?" Silence. "What do you want from me?!" Silence, a blank screen and an extremely pissed eleven year old.

"Hey, what's that?" before Kouji could pocket his Digivice, Hatsuharu pointed at the map that had popped up, drawing everyone's attention to the six dots on screen.

Examining the dots, Sachiko burst out laughing, "Minamoto, you're the pink one!"

"If anyone's the pink one, it's Chiba," Kouji growled angrily only for Sachiko to narrow her eyes in a challenging manner.

"Wanna bet?"

"Fine."

Smirking, she pointed to the nearest tree to the train station – which was on the map, "Everyone but Kouji, over there!"

Shrugging, everyone walked over to the tree – save Sachiko, who simply backed away a few paces to prove her point. The pink dot was the only one that hadn't moved.

Scowling as the fox-haired girl began sniggering, Kouji narrowed his eyes, "Shut up; you're pink too."

"Are you colour-blind or something?" Sachiko frowned slightly. "I'm…" she looked at the map, her smirk fading, "…pink…"

"Exactly," Kouji smirked before beginning to walk towards wherever the map was leading him, frowning as he watched the other five dots following his own. Looking over his shoulder, the frown narrowed into a glare at the group of five, "Why are you following me?"

"Nothing better to do in a world where trains talk," Miyu shrugged, giggling slightly as Mizu rolled her eyes.

"She means it's safer to stay together."

"I know what I mean and I mean what I say!" Miyu yelled as Hatsuharu began humming a song quietly under his breath while Sachiko pulled out another cinnamon bun and Koike began swearing at his Digivice – which soon began swearing back.

"Fine," Kouji sighed before turning back to the way that his Digivice was leading him. "Just don't get in my way."

* * *

Hope you guys liked the first chapter. Sorry that there isn't anything very interesting, but I really didn't want Sachiko and Koike to end up with Takuya, despite how kawaii he is; it's way more fun to make Sachiko and Kouji fight!

Anyway, as far as the others go, everything happens as it does in the episode, but Takuya mentions 'the weird girl' and Izumi gets happy because she thinks she won't be the only girl anymore.

Oh, and here's what the characters look like:

* * *

Chiba Koike:  
Hair: Mousey brown  
Skin: Pale, freckled  
Eyes: Acid green  
Wears: Maroon hoodie, white t-shirt, normal jeans, maroon converse  
D-Scanner: Red and maroon

Hasegawa Sachiko:  
Hair: Fox coloured, wears in ponytail  
Skin: Pale  
Eyes: Emerald green  
Wears: Blue hoodie – open – over a cream tank top with a picture of a blue wolf on it, blue bandana with white markings, blue jeans, blue goggles and blue-and-white trainers  
D-Scanner: Orange and navy

Akiyama Miyu:  
Hair: Blue-black  
Skin: Slightly tanned – like Takuya  
Eyes: Amber  
Wears: Black converse jacket open, white t-shirt with a fox wearing a cap saying 'Young Rebel', blue jeans, black trainers, black newspaper-girl hat  
D-Scanner: Beige and silver with a smiley face in top right corner

Akiyama Mizu:  
Hair: Blue-black  
Skin: Slightly tanned – like Takuya  
Eyes: Amber  
Wears: Black converse jacket open, white t-shirt with a fox wearing a cap saying 'Young Rebel', blue jeans, black trainers, black newspaper-girl hat (They are literally _identical)_  
D-Scanner: Midnight blue and violet

Saruwatari Hatsuharu:  
Hair: Brown, curly, worn in ponytail – like Kouji's  
Skin: Olive-tan  
Eyes: Hazel  
Wears: Blue-checked shirt open, white t-shirt with a picture of headphones, brown Khaki trousers, black shoes  
D-Scanner: Sky blue and brown

* * *

**Name Meanings** (for the sake of it):  
**Sachiko: **child of fortune  
**Koike: **penetrating peace  
**Hatsuharu: **vigorous spring time  
**Mizu: **water  
**Miyu: **deep, tenderness


	2. Hikari no Wolfmon, Chikameikyū no Tataka

Thanks to DD Leader Dark Heart of Water and Kaito Lune for your reviews!

**WARNING: **There are a hell of a lot of swears in this; even more than whatever country has the most swears in the actual episodes! Just letting you know.

**I own nothing other than my OCs and whatever evolutions they will somehow possess in the near-far future…and that really bitchy voice in the D-Scanner.**

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage  
Chapter Two  
Hikari no Wolfmon, Chikameikyū no Tatakai!  
**

* * *

_To be positive is to be mistaken at the top of one's voice - Ambrose Bierce_

* * *

Sachiko groaned as she stretched her hands behind her head, eyes narrowed out of boredom as Kouji silently led the way, "Are we there yet?"

"No," Kouji snarled in retaliation, throwing a glare at her over his shoulder only to pause and glance sideways, one eyebrow raised in confusion as two kids ran past him towards the train station the group had just exited, "What…was that?"

"One kid running, one kid either flying, jumping or being pulled," Miyu shrugged, still glaring at the Digivice they had come to call a D-Scanner after the more childish of the voices had shrieked it in a swearing frenzy directed this time at Sachiko.

After giving Miyu an odd look, Kouji shook his head in exasperation before continuing in the direction his D-Scanner was leading him in, "Whatever."

"Stupid jackass dickwad jerk bastard," Sachiko grumbled under her breath as Koike walked up to her.

"Do you have to say that stuff out loud?" he murmured. "The last time you did, the D-Scanner thought you were talking about it."

"Last one," Sachiko promised before glaring at Kouji again. "Motherfu-"

"O_kay_; did that get your anger out of your system? I think it did," Koike quickly cut her off, anime sweat dropping as she muttered something else incomprehensible under her breath before stopping.

"Hey, Hasegawa?" said redhead glanced up as Hatsuharu approached her.

"You can call me Sachiko," she smiled slightly. "'Hasegawa' is reserved for people I don't like."

For the last five words, she raised her voice to a yell, causing Kouji to tense and growl slightly as Hatsuharu blinked, "Uh, Sachiko then. Could I…have one of those cinnamon buns?"

"I thought you didn't like them," Sachiko frowned in confusion as Hatsuharu bit his lip awkwardly.

"I don't…but I didn't eat today."

"You're not bulimic or anorexic are you?" Sachiko growled suspiciously. "Because if you're just going to throw up after you eat it, I'm not giving you one. It's a waste of good food."

"No; I swear!" Hatsuharu hurriedly shook his head, eyes wide. "I just had orchestra practice earlier on and didn't get a chance to eat and then I came here."

"That explains the violin," Sachiko pursed her lips slightly, glancing at said instrument's case – which was tightly clenched in Hatsuharu's hand. "Okay, I guess I can spare one."

Reaching into her small shoulder bag, she pulled out one of the many cinnamon buns filling it and handed it to Hatsuharu as his eyes widened, "How many do you have?!"

"Well, I ate two, gave you, Koike and Miyu one, and the jackass over there crushed one," Sachiko paused to glare at Kouji, "so I only have… forty seven left."

Hatsuharu's jaw dropped in shock causing Sachiko to chuckle slightly, "I have a problem…"

"So I see," Hatsuharu shrugged, taking a bite out of the bun Sachiko had given him. "Still, at least we won't run out of food."

"No way," Sachiko clutched her bag tightly. "No one else is getting these! _My_ cinnamon buns! _Mine_!"

* * *

Mizu slowly sidled up to Kouji, pulling ahead of her sister – who was badgering Sachiko for another cinnamon bun, "Hi."

Glancing down at her (she's about two inches shorter than him), Kouji narrowed his eyes, "Hn."

"You're Minamoto Kouji, right?" she pressed, gripping her D-Scanner tightly.

"What's it to you?"

_Yep, that's him,_ Mizu bit her lip, "Just curious… I wanted to make sure you really were the kendo champion of Shinjuku."

"What's it to you?" Kouji repeated through gritted teeth, tensing noticeably.

"Nothing," Mizu snapped in reply. "I'm just surprised you don't remember me."

"I do," Kouji shrugged. "Akiyama Mizu, champion of Odaiba High School. You came pretty close to beating me last month."

"That's me," Mizu smiled and raised her fingers in a peace sign. "Anyway, I just wanted to know why you came here."

"You want to know a lot of things," Kouji muttered, although Mizu couldn't help but notice that some of the bitterness had left his voice.

"Are you going to enlighten me?" Mizu enquired almost forcefully as Kouji sighed, fixing his stare on his D-Scanner.

"You want to know why I came?" Kouji shrugged. "I came because I wanted to get away from people who piss me off, but that doesn't seem to be happening."

"You don't need to be a jerk," Mizu huffed angrily, walking back to her twin. "You could have just said you didn't want to

"Hn," was Kouji's only response as they left the silent town made of tin houses and entered a forest.

* * *

"Why are we stopping this time?" Miyu groaned as Kouji abruptly halted, glaring at his D-Scanner.

"It stopped," the raven-haired* boy growled as the map disappeared. "Perfect."

"So either it led us out here to annoy us," Hatsuharu summarised, "or-" Before he could finish his sentence however, the earth beneath them caved in, causing them to fall about ten feet before hitting hard cement, "that's going to happen…"

"I'm beginning to wonder if fate hates us," Miyu groaned only for her D-Scanner to light up.

_Why wonder? I can tell you for a fact it does!_

"And I can tell you for a fact that if you don't shut up I will hunt you down and kill you and your family," Miyu snarled before shoving the suddenly silent D-Scanner into the depths of her bag. "Where to now?"

"How about that way?" Koike gulped slightly, realising how alike Miyu and Sachiko were – and also how potentially dangerous that could be for everyone else.

"You guys go that way," Kouji growled, standing up – having hit the ground rather hard – hands in his pockets. "I'm going this way."

As the raven-haired boy began walking in the opposite direction, Sachiko's fists clenched, "Why do you have to be such a jerk all the time?"

"Why do you have to be such an idiot?" Kouji shot back, pausing only briefly to glare at her. "I don't know why Chiba even sticks around anymore; all you're doing is holding him back."

"That's not…true…" Sachiko began, but the anger had evaporated from her voice to be replaced by feeble shock.

"Isn't it?" Kouji's eyes narrowed. "When's the last time you actually did something on your own?" Hearing no response, he nodded slightly before continuing the way he was heading, "I thought as much."

"Sachiko," Koike began as the raven-haired boy walked out of sight only to sigh as said foxette sprinted after him.

"Shouldn't we follow her?" Hatsuharu inquired hesitantly only for Koike to shake his head.

"She just needs some time to cool off. Come on; we'd better find a way out of here."

After glancing at the large hole above them, the trio nodded and began walking in the direction opposite the one that Sachiko and Kouji had taken.

* * *

_It's not true,_ Sachiko shook her head as she sprinted blindly through countless hallways and corridors in what seemed to be a sewer._ I…I don't hold him back…do I?_

_"Sachiko, you really need to learn to do these things on your own,"_ she remembered Koike saying to her about a month after they met. And not even a week previously, _"Can't you take anything seriously?"_

_I guess I do hold him back, _she realised, slowing to a halt, her arms hanging limply by her sides, hot tears pricking her eyes as she fixed her blurry glare at the ground beneath her, "But I help him too, right?...Sometimes?"

However much she struggled however, the foxette couldn't think of a single time that she had helped her best and only real friend, "I'm such a loser…"

_That's not true!_

Blinking, Sachiko let out an exclamation of surprise before pulling her D-Scanner out of her pocket.

_As fun as it is to watch you guys get mad, it depresses me when you downgrade yourself. Anyway, you've helped Chiba Koike-kun loads!_

"Proof or nothing," Sachiko mumbled miserably, smiling coldly as her D-Scanner remained silent. "I thought so."

"There was that time you stopped Fujimoto Takumi beating the crap out of him," a voice cut in as Sachiko looked up to see Kouji leaning against one wall with his arms crossed. "And when you stood up for him when Yoshikuni-sensei marked him unfairly in a test."

_And weren't you the one who asked him to be friends when you saw him alone in the playground when you were three?_

"What are you doing here?" Sachiko sniffed, rubbing her eyes stubbornly so as to glare at Kouji, ignoring her D-Scanner in the process. "Weren't you the one who wanted me to feel like this?"

"Yeah," Kouji nodded slightly, uncrossing his arms. "But I…guess I went a bit too far."

"You think?" Sachiko mumbled before hiccupping quietly, causing Kouji to chuckled slightly as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You did the best thing for him; something no one else could have."

"What's that?" Sachiko glanced up in curiosity, confused at the side of Kouji she had never seen before.

"I'm not telling you," then he smirked slightly and he was back to the annoying boy that had enraged Sachiko over the course of the four years since he had moved from Ikebukuro to Shinjuku. "It's one thing you need to figure out on your own."

"You suck, Kouji," Sachiko growled, although the anger that had stood between the two for the past four years was gone from her voice; she knew in her heart that he was right.

"Did you just call me Kouji?" he raised a single eyebrow. "What happened to Minamoto, Sachiko?"

"Same thing that happened to Hasegawa, I guess," Sachiko smirked slightly, hands in her pockets as she counted down to the time when Kouji's emotional barriers would take hold again.

…5…

Kouji chuckled slightly shaking his head.

…4…

The smile faded slightly, "Come on, we'd…better try and find our way out."

…3…

"Sounds like a plan," Sachiko grinned and began following Kouji in the direction that he had first taken.

…2…

"So…any idea where this goes?" Sachiko inquired, turning so that she could look at Kouji while she walked – although since he was behind her, she had to walk backwards.

…1…

"No," Kouji growled, the scowl Sachiko had become accustomed to seeing quickly settling over the eleven-year-old's features.

Bingo.

Suddenly however, a look of shock crossed his features as Sachiko crashed into something which gave away easily under her weight. "Help!" she shrieked as she flailed her arms, trying to find something to latch onto as she teetered on her toes before falling backwards…only for Kouji to grab her wrist, pulling her back up.

"That's why it's not a good idea to walk backwards," he grunted, although there was slight amusement in his eyes – once Sachiko got past the relief.

"T-Thanks," she mumbled, blushing slightly as he nodded, only to whip around as screaming filled the air.

"Somebody help us!"

"They're crazy!"

"We're not chocolate bars!"

"The son of a bitch bit me!"

"Help!"

"Is it me or did that sound like…" Sachiko trailed off, her eyes widening in shock as the two boys from earlier followed by the quartet of humans who had been on the blue train sprinted out of the tunnel, running away from what looked like evil, purple dust bunnies. "Crud!"

"Really? You choose now not to swear?" Kouji shook his head in disbelief as Sachiko backed up a few steps before taking a flying leap from the ledge about ten feet off the ground that they were standing on.

"Idon'tusuallyswearyoujustannoyedme!" she yelled in one breath before hitting the ground and glaring at the Digimon who were surrounding her friends. "Over here, dust bunnies!"

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" Kouji muttered under his breath before grabbing the pole nearest to the ledge he was on and sliding down it, snapping it at the bottom so that it resembled a sort of weapon.

"That was…" Miyu paused for a moment before clasping her hands together, stars in her eyes, "_epic!_"

Contradictory to the younger twin, the fact that the duo had made an entrance that drew attention away from them seemed to annoy the Digimon even further.

As the purple dust bunnies lunged at them, Sachiko growled, leaning back into a more defensive posture while Kouji met them in head on offense.

Eying the Digimon warily, Sachiko watched as they paused slightly before attacking her, never all at once – always on their own, "Seriously? You're attacking one by one? That's got to be the worst battle strategy ever!"

"We're saving the strongest for last, slowly tiring you down as each of your opponents slowly grows stronger," the Digimon she was fighting growled only to pause as he was thrown back. "Wait…where's Pagumon?"

"Right here!" the Digimon all replied causing the one Sachiko had just fought to grit his teeth.

"Not you idiots! The strongest one!"

"Over there," one of the Digimon – Pagumon – nodded to where Kouji seemed to be under a dog pile of the Pagumon, only for the one on top to fly up and hit the roof as the metal pole shot out of the pile. Next, Sachiko found herself dropping to the floor to avoid the Pagumon flying towards her as Kouji spun the stick around, destroying the prison they had unsuccessfully made for him.

"Sure; _he _gets the good fighters," Sachiko mumbled as the first Pagumon hit the ground in front of her.

"You bastards," it cursed, eyes squeezed shut. "I'll melt you both!"

Eight pairs of eyes widened in shock and horror alike as several streams of data surrounded the fallen Pagumon to reveal a lump of purple sludge that grew to the size of a minibus with sharp teeth, several pipes and tubes sticking out of its body – if it could be called that – and a metal-rimmed eye.

_Raremon, Undead Digimon. His muscles are muddy and rotten. His special attack is the horrible stinky Sludge!_

"I'll eat you," Raremon announced as the two unnamed boys screamed in horror before running away while the twins, Hatsuharu and Koike struggled to gain their attention and indicate to a tunnel without attracting the unwanted attention of Raremon.

"Damn it!" Kouji cursed, abandoning his metal pole to grab the smallest boy – who couldn't have been older than nine – as Raremon spat acid-green gunk at them while Sachiko slipped on the damp floor. When the smoke from the blast faded, everyone's eyes widened in shock as they realised what had happened; the gunk had just melted the floor, the nearest hole being not ten inches from Sachiko's head.

"Sachiko!" Koike cried in concern for his friend, but he couldn't do anything as Raremon advanced on her only for Kouji to throw the nine year old towards them and pick up his metal pole again. Before the Digimon could attack again, Kouji hurled the pole at it, watching as the makeshift weapon sank into Raremon's arm.

Thankfully, it had the desired effect; it drew Raremon's attention away from Sachiko long enough for the foxette to run away. Unfortunately, Sachiko chose to tackle Kouji out of the way of another attack instead of run.

"You're insane!" Kouji yelled as he roughly hit the ground with Sachiko, rolling twice before coming to a stop.

"So I've been told," Sachiko smirked slightly as the Pagumon chanted 'Get them, Raremon'.

"Guys, get out of there!" Hatsuharu yelled, indicating to Raremon as two more kids around their age walked out of the tunnel and the duo began running again in a desperate attempt to escape the acidic saliva.

"It stinks in here," the girl complained, pulling off her purple hat to reveal a head of blonde, elbow-length hair before clamping the hat over her mouth while the second human – the boy from the elevator – pulled out a black D-Scanner with red grips.

"Spirit awaken," he cried only for the screen to remain blank. "Come on, make me evolve!"

"Huh?" a white chicken-like Digimon wearing a pink waistband glanced up at him in confusion. "You mean you can't use the Spirit Takuya-kun?"

_So that's his name; Takuya,_ Sachiko realised as she and Kouji were slowly backed towards the large hole in the centre of the room.

"Please," Takuya mumbled as Kouji almost fell back into the hole, only saving himself by grabbing Sachiko's shoulder to steady himself.

"Go to hell," Raremon growled, preparing itself for another burst of acid only for Takuya to scream in exasperation.

"_Spirit_!"

Kouji's eyes widened in shock as all attention was diverted to Takuya, "He has a spirit?"

"Apparently," Sachiko mumbled, catching Kouji's scowl in the corner of her eye. "Don't complain unless he gets us killed."

Takuya held the D-Scanner an arm's length away until the screen lit up and he thrust it behind him, holding out his right hand as a single ring of data surrounded it. After crossing his arms in an 'X' shape, uncrossing them and then crossing them again, he slammed his hand into his D-Scanner, his shirt flying behind him out of the momentum of the sheer power of either the data stream or the D-Scanner, "Spirit…" he paused and drew his hands away from one another until they were as far apart as they could be and he was enveloped in a burst of white light, "Evolution!"

Armour in the colours of yellow, silver, red and black replaced the goggle-head's clothes while his hair lengthened to mid back-length and turned a blonde colour. Three horns appeared on his suddenly-pale face while his eyes turned a clear blue and two sharp teeth poked out from his lower lip. A symbol that looked a lot like the kanji character of fire appeared in a burst of flames on his belt. He threw his chest forwards as flames enveloped one hand before throwing the flame forwards and yelling his name, "Agnimon!"

Before Raremon could attack again, Takuya – or Agnimon…whatever – sprinted forwards, and – leaping over the gap – shoved Raremon into the wall he had his back to, causing the purple Digimon to spit several dozen blasts of acid at the ceiling.

Jumping back, Agnimon slashed a metal-protected hand threw a particularly large blob of acid directed at him, Sachiko and Kouji before turning to the duo whom he was trying to protect, "Now's your chance; get out of here!"

Before either could move however, more data enveloped Agnimon before disappearing to reveal Takuya – once again human, "Why aren't you- huh? I changed back!"

Tensing slightly, Kouji glanced around as light streamed through the holes that Raremon had created only for his head to snap up as he noticed that said Digimon had somehow managed to sneak away from its spot against the wall without their notice.

"Melt!" Raremon suddenly shot up from the floor and spat a large clump of acid at the trio of humans causing Takuya to yelp.

"Move!" tackling Sachiko to the ground, Takuya gulped slightly as he felt himself crash into Kouji, glancing up just in time to see the raven-haired boy teeter on the edge of the hole before falling in – thankfully in time to avoid the acid. "Dammit!"

"Kouji!" Sachiko shrieked, lunging forward and grabbing the lone wolf's wrist before it could slip out of her grasp, not even noticing the loud crack her actions had caused her shoulder to make. "I've got you."

Fate, of course, having a different plan allowed Kouji's wrist to slowly slip out of Sachiko's grip as she desperately pulled to try and help him up.

"Kouji!" she shrieked again as she lost her grip, her nails digging into the skin on his wrist for a second before he finally began dropping.

The clump of acid that had caused Kouji to fall was redirected into a wall – which shone a beam of light into the hole as Sachiko clenched her fists and glared at Raremon, "You bastard… I'll…I'll _kill _you!"

However, once again, fate seemed to want to one up Sachiko's decisions for she heard a loud yell of 'Spirit!' before all of the lights in the sewer were relocated into the hole.

Suddenly as though being forced out by an unusually strong gust of wind, Kouji shot out of the tunnel, D-Scanner at the ready.

Like Takuya, he waited for the screen to light up as he held it an arm's length away before pulling it back and crossing his arms across his body. A hard look was on his face as his empty hand – the arm of which was under the one holding the D-Scanner – was surrounded by data. Pulling his arms back, the raven-haired boy held them parallel to one another for a brief moment – his ponytail flying behind him – before slamming the data-surrounded hand into his D-Scanner and raising his arms above his head, "Spirit…" Dragging the hand with his D-Scanner down so that the data spiralled around his body to the digital device, Kouji's eyes narrowed as the bright light enveloped him, "Evolution!"

His armour – unlike Agnimon's – was dually coloured in silver-white and purple which shone white a light source impossible to find as it replaced his clothes. His hair shortened to ear-level and became the same straw-colour as Agnimon's as a silver helmet with wolf-ear shaped slabs of metal along with sharp pieces of metal shaped like teeth covered his pale face, only revealing his mouth – which seemed perfectly human – and scarlet eyes. Black belts appeared in random places along with purple symbols resembling the kanji character of light on either shoulder as a purple-and-white scarf wound around his neck. Landing on one knee, he slashed the air with two swords of light – which made Sachiko smirk as she realised how Light Sabre-y they were – before standing to his full height and firing from the laser attached to his left arm, "Wolfmon!"

Everyone – save Sachiko who crossed her arms, mumbling 'show-off' under her breath – stared at Wolfmon in amazement as he slowly landed on the ground, arms crossed, glaring at Raremon, flexing as light was reflected from his armour.

"Wolfmon," the white chicken read from a book she* pulled out of her waistband as a yellow rabbit wearing red pants and the blonde girl – who had put her hat back on – read over her shoulder, "the Legendary Warrior of light!"

"Never would have guessed that from all the light in here," Sachiko mumbled under her breath as Takuya asked the nine year old if it had been the same with him, grinning as said boy nodded enthusiastically.

Ignoring everyone else's astonishment, Raremon threw back its head, "Melt away!"

Instead of directing the attack at Wolfmon however, the acid shot towards Sachiko – who held up her hands in a makeshift barrier to defend herself.

Thankfully, she didn't need to for – activating his Light Sabre* - Wolfmon slashed through the acid and leapt on top of Raremon's head and drove the blade into the Digimon until it was in as far as the hilt, causing Raremon to roar in pain, "Licht Seiger!"

Leaping back, Wolfmon watched as some type of purple liquid that resembled blood in texture spilled out of Raremon and said Digimon faded completely into a black colour surrounded by a ring of data.

"Soul that squirms in darkness," Wolfmon growled, crossing his arms in front of his chest before turning his hand to reveal his D-Scanner in his right palm. The screen lit up, revealing the symbol that resided on Wolfmon's shoulders as he swiped it across his body, causing the data surrounding Raremon to make its way into the device. "The holy light will purify you! Digicode, scan!"

As the blonde girl blurted out something in what Sachiko recognised as either Italian or Zulu, a dome of data – Digicode, the foxette remembered – surrounded Wolfmon before fading to reveal Kouji on his hands and knees, gasping for breath.

"Uh," after hesitating slightly, Takuya walked up to him, extending a hand to help him up, "are you okay?"

"Don't touch me," Kouji snarled, causing the goggle head to take an involuntary step backwards. "I _hate _it when strangers touch me."

"That's what he said," Miyu giggled quietly, causing Mizu to roll her eyes before elbowing her twin lightly.

"Still, I guess you helped me out," after a moment, Kouji stood up shakily. "I'll return the favour."

"You don't need to, you know," Takuya mumbled.

"I'm Minamoto Kouji. And you?" Silence followed the question. "I can't repay you if I don't know your name."

"Kouji-Japanese dictionary at your service," Mizu smirked slightly, placing a hand on Kouji's shoulder. "Translation; thanks for helping me out. I'll feel stupid if I don't return the favour, so I will. What's your name?"

"It's…Kanbara Takuya…" the goggle head replied after hiding a laugh. "What about you?"

"Akiyama Mizu, my sister Miyu, Saruwatari Hatsuharu, Chiba Koike and Hasegawa Sachiko," Mizu stated, pointing to each of the aforementioned newcomers as she said their name.

"I'll see you guys later," Kouji sighed, giving them a slight wave as he turned his back.

"Yeah, same here," Sachiko gave them a two-fingered salute before glancing at the four she had met on the train. "You guys coming?"

"I…think I'm going to go with these guys," Hatsuharu rubbed his arm awkwardly before glancing at them. "If that's okay with you."

"It's fine," the blonde smiled slightly. "I'm Orimoto Izumi."

"We'll stay too," the twins agreed in unison after a moment as Sachiko turned to a clearly uncertain Koike.

"You don't have to come with us, you know."

"Are…you sure?" he queried quietly as – heart sinking – Sachiko nodded; she had hoped that their friendship would be enough for Koike to decide to go with her. "Thanks; it's just…I-"

"Don't worry about it," Sachiko flashed him a quick smile before following Kouji out of the tunnel. "Bye!"

* * *

Sachiko's head whipped around, her eyes wide as dark clouds slowly began to cover the sky, "Did you hear something?"

"Huh?" Kouji glanced down at her as he reached up to grab an apple out of a tree. "Hear what?"

"Probably nothing," Sachiko shook her head, glancing at the dozen apples already in her arms. "I think we have enough. Besides, it looks like it's going to rain; we should find some shelter."

"I guess you're right," Kouji sighed in agreement before dropping down to the ground beside her. "There's a cave just up ahead; I saw it on our way here."

"Great," Sachiko grinned happily as they quickly made their way to the cave, ducking into it just as it began pouring. "Looks like we made it, huh?"

Kouji nodded in agreement, taking an apple and biting into it as Sachiko glanced at him curiously.

"Hey, Kouji?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you act like a jerk?" Sachiko inquired as she took her own apple. "You're a nice guy underneath it all, so why do you pretend you're not?"

"Why do you act so cold around people you don't know?" the raven-haired boy countered, causing Sachiko to smirk slightly.

"Touché."

Silence reigned over them for a moment and – just as Kouji was about to answer Sachiko's question – lightning flashed overhead and thunder rumbled, followed by a more high-pitched noise that Kouji never would have expected to hear from the foxette across from him.

"AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIII!"

* * *

The three stars I made up in the story will be explained here:

Arigato to Kaito Lune for the advice

Yes, in the original Japanese version, Bokomon was a girl and was _voiced _by a girl too.

I will be making a lot of references to Light Sabres because I can't think of any other way to describe Wolfmon's weapons. If you can think of one, please let me know in reviews!


	3. Yūki aru Kitsune, Kontorōru no Tatakai

_DD Leader Dark Heart of Water: _Thanks so much and yeah, I love that bit too.

_wentvoltage123: _Thanks; I couldn't remember and I was too lazy to check it up.

* * *

Alright, guys; I'm back with another chapter. This isn't from the episodes at all. Just warning you. And also, there will be slightly-graphic sexual themes in this chapter so…yeah…if you want to, you can skip it, but it explains Sachiko's past.

* * *

**I own nothing other than my OCs, their spirits and the annoying little voice.**

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage  
Chapter Three  
****Yūki aru Kitsune, Kontorōru no Tatakai**  


* * *

_I am not your friend; I am your parent. I will stalk you, flip out on you, lecture you, drive you insane, be your worst nightmare and hunt you down when needed because I love you – The Sticker Hut_

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIII!"

Kouji stared in shock at Sachiko as she screamed through gritted teeth, her fists clenched, eyes squeezed shut. When the screaming had subsided, he shook his head in confusion, "What the hell was _that_?"

"I just…" Sachiko shook her head before regaining her composure and gripping on arm lightly, "I hurt my arm earlier, that's all."

Frowning in disbelief, Kouji leaned towards the foxette, taking her upper arm in his hand and inspecting her shoulder, "You dislocated it; how the hell did you dislocate it and not faint?"

"I'm very tolerant of pain," she mumbled under her breath, giving Kouji reason to believe that there was a hidden meaning behind that sentence.

Placing a firm hand on her shoulder, Kouji relocated his other hand so that he had a tight hold of her elbow, "This might hurt a bit…"

Then he pulled as quickly and forcefully as he could, falling backwards as he released her arm after a loud crack echoed through the cave, "Better?"

"Better," Sachiko smiled slightly, not even having winced during the procedure.

Once again, silence reigned over them for a moment before lightning flashed again outside the cave and – yelping – Sachiko threw her arms around Kouji, bringing both of them down.

"Sa-Sachiko," Kouji gasped slightly as her grip around his neck tightened, tears of fear forming at the edges of her eyes.

"I-I'm…sorry," she gasped through her sobs as thunder continued to crash overhead. "I…can't…"

Gently, Kouji pried himself out of the foxette's grip and pulled off his jacket, throwing it over her as she curled up like an egg, hands clapped over her ears.

Searching through his pockets, he sighed in relief, finding that his iPod and miniature headphones were still there.

Quickly – during a break between the claps of thunder – he slid the headphones over Sachiko's ears and plugged them into the iPod, playing the song that came up first.

"_I'm not your average type of girl, I'm gonna show the world."_

Sachiko's eyes widened slightly, revealing the tears that she was so desperately trying to hold back to see Kouji standing in front of her, smiling slightly, "Huh?"

_"The strength in me that sometimes they can't see. I'm about to change my style and soon things may get wild, but I'll prove that I can conquer anything."_

"Now you can't hear the thunder," Kouji's eyes softened slightly before he turned around and began walking outside. "I'll try and find you some water."

Nodding gratefully, Sachiko leaned her head back against the cave wall, her muscles still rigid with fear although the music blocked out most of the thunder.

"_So from my head to toe, I'm taking full control, I'll make it on my own this time. Better watch me shine!"_

Shivering slightly, Sachiko pulled the jacket that Kouji had supplied her with tighter around her, barely registering the fact that she was trying to memorise what it smelt like.

Warm…and fresh. Like a warm day after a heavy storm the night before.

Glancing up, she smiled slightly as she heard someone approach the cave, only to scream and press herself up against the wall as much as she could as a creature with six legs, a round, red-and-purple body and a pair of long, jewel-adorned hands crept in and glared at her.

_Archnemon, Demon Beast Digimon. Her claws are extremely poisonous. Her special attack is Spider Thread._

"That's just great," Sachiko whispered under her breath, eyes wide in horror as the spider Digimon approached her angrily.

"What are _you _doing here?" she growled angrily, her claws making loud 'clicks' on the ground. "I don't want any girls, especially none more beautiful than I…not that you are! My beauty is only beaten by the fair Lady Ranamon! But this place is _specifically _for _men_!"

Gulping slightly, Sachiko pulled the jacket closer around her as though to protect herself as Archnemon raised her two skinny arms, only for Kouji to skid to a halt in front of Sachiko, D-Scanner in hand, "Don't _touch _her!"

"Oh, finally," Archnemon giggled childishly, lowering her arms. "I was wondering when I'd finally find a man."

Kouji's body was tense as he held out his arms as though to barricade Sachiko from an attack.

"Don't worry, honey," Archnemon smirked slightly, her eyes slightly glazed over. "I won't hurt your little friend over there as long as you're here and do what I say…"

"Forget it!" Kouji spat angrily, raising his hand. "Spirit…!"

"Spider Thread!" Archnemon raised her arms, shooting several threads of web at Kouji, forcing him to stop his evolution and try to dodge, only to grunt as a particularly thick thread trapped his arms by his sides.

"Kouji…" Sachiko gasped slightly, staring in shock as the raven-haired boy fell to his knees, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"He'll be fine," Archnemon promised with a sultry look that caused both eleven-year-olds to shudder, "as long as he does what I say. Otherwise, my threads will continue to suck the energy out of him until…well, you get the picture."

Growling angrily, Sachiko began to pull her fist back only to shriek as a clap of thunder boomed overhead, the headphones having fallen in the midst of the battle.

"Oh, dear," Archnemon sighed as Sachiko stopped and clapped her hands over her ears. "So _weak. _Maybe I should put an end to your miserable life right now to save you the pain."

"No!" both females turned to stare at Kouji, who was struggling to his feet. "Leave her alone!"

"Honey, the only way either of you are going to get out of here alive is if you come with me," Archnemon smirked slightly, stroking a hand down Kouji's cheek. "And I'm actually beginning to wonder if you might be a bit young…"

"Just leave her alone," Kouji growled quietly, head lowered, fists clenched. "I'll…I'll do what you want if you just let her go."

"Hmm…" Archnemon smirked slightly, running her hand down Kouji's cheek again as the raven-haired boy forced himself not to flinch. "Are you sure? You may be a bit young…"

"I can handle it," Kouji said levelly although he was internally shuddering at the thought of what he might be too young for.

"Very well," Archnemon's smirk widened as she grabbed Kouji and slowly left the cave, but not before throwing Sachiko a mocking look. "I honestly despise those too cowardly to stick up for their friends; it makes the chase too boring."

As Archnemon left the cave, Sachiko forced herself into a standing position, continuing to sob as thunder plagued through the skies.

"She was right," Sachiko whispered, sitting down and pulling her legs closer to her. "I _am _a coward."

Hearing a loud beeping noise, Sachiko glanced around, eyes widening when she saw Kouji's D-Scanner in the middle of the cave with a strange orange symbol identical to the one on Agnimon's belt in the middle of its screen.

Picking it up, she pressed a button, sighing in relief as the beeping stopped, "H-hello?"

_"Miyu, is that you?!" _Takuya's voice rang through the cave, causing Sachiko to wince slightly before regaining her composure enough to maintain a level voice.

"No, sorry to disappoint you. It's Hasegawa Sachiko, the girl from earlier."

"_Oh…well, have you seen Miyu? She ran off on us!"_

"No, but I'll keep an eye out for her," Sachiko paused. "You have your spirit, right?"

_"Right…"_

"I really need your help! Kouji…he went to get something to drink and then a Digimon attacked me and he saved me but the Digimon dragged him off somewhere!"

_"Sa…iko? Do… y… …e… he…p?"_

"Yes! Help, I need help!" Sachiko yelled in frustration as the symbol began to fade.

_"I… a… h…r y…. W…re a… …u?"_

"Takuya!" Sachiko yelled, pressing several buttons, her rage-induced energy fading as the screen of Kouji's D-Scanner became blank. Hand falling slightly, her voice faded to little more than a whisper, "Takuya?"

Quiet sobs and yelps filled the cave once more as thunder boomed overhead only for the voice from Sachiko's D-Scanner to bring the foxette out of her state of fear.

_I guess the spider was right. You _are _a coward._

"Huh?" Sachiko glanced up in surprise, tears that she had held back for many a year streaming down her face.

_I mean, look at you! Your friend is in danger and all you can do is cry because of a storm!_

"Y-you don't get it," Sachiko shook her head. "I'm terrified of thunder…"

_Why's that?_

Sachiko remained silent, allowing the memory to fill her mind.

* * *

"Outo-san?" young, six year old Sachiko glanced up as her stumbling father walked into the room, a grin on his face. "Where are Okaa-san and Sumire-imoto-chan?"

"They went to do a bit of shopping," Hasegawa Kyousuke smiled slightly as he sat down on her bed. "They'll be back in about an hour. Do you want to have a bit of fun when they're gone?"

"Sure," Sachiko shrugged happily as her father pulled off his shirt and climbed into the bed.

"Come give your father a hug first."

Giggling, Sachiko nodded and ran towards her father, clambering onto the bed as he pulled her under the covers with him.

"You look so beautiful," Kyousuke smiled slightly before slowly sliding his trousers off, along with his boxers and yanking Sachiko's night dress off.

"Outo-san?" Sachiko's voice was trembling as she stared at her father in shock. "What are you…doing?"

"We're just having fun," Kyousuke gave her a sultry look, pinning her down before driving into her small body.

"Daaaddyyy!" she cried in pain as he straddled her small, thin hips, her muscles forced to stroke every inch of her father's erection.

Blood slowly seeped onto the covers as her father moaned in pleasure, arching his back and slowly adding force; he had started off slowly enough to get her used to it.

Thunder crashed outside as he continued to moan before leaning forward and kissing his daughter, nibbling her lower lip and forcing her to open her mouth so that his tongue could explore it.

"O-Outo-san," she moaned as her body moved in time with his, tears slowly creeping out of her eyes as his mouth hung open in pleasure.

"Harder," he commanded forcefully, using his hands to force his daughter to buck her hips in order to take him even deeper into her fragile body.

He slowly trailed a line of kisses down to her chest and quickly pulled his manhood out of her, barely giving her time to take a shaky breath before shoving it into her mouth.

"Okaa-san!" Sachiko screamed, tears falling from her eyes as – displeased – her father removed his dick before placing it back into its original position, his panting telling him that he would reach his climate soon.

"Oh, baby," he moaned, thrusting forwards as he felt his sperm leave his body. "Don't stop!"

Sobbing, Sachiko squirmed in her father's grip, but that only caused her more pain as he continued to drive into her again and again until she was almost unconscious from the strain of it.

"See?" her father gave her a final sultry look as he removed himself and pulled the covers over his daughter. "Wasn't that fun?"

Thunder crashed and bellowed overhead, causing him to smirk, "How about we have more fun during the next storm?"

Shaking her head, Sachiko sobbed again as he pulled her nightdress over her head, nodding to himself, "Yes, the next time you hear thunder, we'll have more fun. And if you tell anyone – and I mean _anyone," _he paused, "I might not stop the next time."

Slowly, he left the room, leaving her to cry herself to sleep, eyes and lips swollen, her body bruised and feeling filthy...both inside and out.

* * *

Shaking her head, Sachiko struggled to rid itself of the memory, shuddering to herself.

_What don't I get, Sachiko-kun?_

"Y-y-you just don't understand!" Sachiko yelled angrily. "I can't stand thunder! Every time I hear it, it makes me think of my father and what he did!"

Knowing better than to question what her father did to her, the voice simply allowed Sachiko to recall what had happened to her the last time there had been a thunderstorm back home.

* * *

Sachiko – now eleven – quickly ducked into a press as thunder crashed and bellowed overhead, tears streaming down her face as she bit back screams and yelps of terror. Maybe he wouldn't find her; maybe she had hidden well enough this time. Maybe-

"There you are," came a sultry voice as a hand opened the door to reveal Kyousuke. "I've been looking for you…"

"Outo-san, please," Sachiko gasped as he pulled her out of the cabinet, tears streaming down her face as he pulled her towards the bedroom of the hotel room.

"But it's our anniversary, sweetheart," Kyousuke smirked as he opened the door of the bedroom to reveal a spacious king-sized bed. "I got the room for you…do you know how hard it was to get you away tonight. If it hadn't been for the business trip, I wouldn't have been able to."

Shuddering, Sachiko began to struggle, remembering how her mother was forced to go to Shinjuku on a court case for five days.

"Besides, I promised we would always have fun in a thunder storm," her father quickly pulled her away from the door – which he locked and stowed the key in a safe, the password of which she couldn't see.

Slowly he stripped, watching in vague amusement as his daughter pounded against the walls of the room, "I specifically asked for a penthouse, so no one else is on the floor."

Gulping, Sachiko pressed herself against the wall, eyes squeezed shut as her father slowly removed her clothes, beginning with her shirt and jeans, and then moving onto her bra and knickers.

"Come on, Sachiko," Kyousuke pushed her down onto the bed, quickly tying her wrists to the posts with a length of rope that he had begun using since she had become strong enough to fight back.

Seeing that she was preparing to kick him when she got the chance, Kyousuke grabbed her ankles and tied them to either end of the bed, "Now we're ready."

Slowly, Kyousuke climbed onto the bed so that he was on top of his daughter, slowly leaning towards her, forcing her legs apart with his own as he placed one hand on either side of her head.

His smirk faded as he pressed his lips against his daughters for a moment before moving downwards and nibbling a spot on her neck.

Next, he moved onto her breasts – which were large for someone of her age – squeezing them and causing her to tense slightly. She hated the fact that he took advantage of her, but what she hated almost as much was how much he liked to draw it out.

It was at that moment that Kyousuke began straddling her, moaning in pleasure as she was forced to arch her back to take the pressure off of her loins, therefore pushing him into her by herself.

"Oh, baby," Kyousuke's mouth hung open happily as Sachiko realised what she had just done. Frowning as his daughter turned tense, Kyousuke pushed his lips against hers, forcing them open so that his tongue could once again explore her mouth.

Pulling away, Kyousuke's scowl deepened slightly, "Don't make me do all of the work, sweetheart. You know what happens when you do."

Gulping, Sachiko forced back the bile that was rising to her mouth before beginning to move her body in time with her father's, closing her eyes in distaste as he removed his manhood from her; she knew what was coming next.

"Open wide," he commanded huskily, smirking as she obliged before sticking the aforementioned body part into her mouth, moaning in pleasure before straddling again and again.

Sachiko was forced not to spit out her father's penis as he began moving his body again; this was new for her.

Quickly, he turned on his stomach, making sure that his part was still in her mouth before latching onto her more feminine one.

Sachiko stiffened underneath him, groaning in disgust as she forced back tears; it hurt so much.

After a few moments, Kyousuke popped back up and once again thrust himself into his daughter, grinding his hips against hers as he burrowed his face into her chest, nibbled a small piece of skin and began sucking.

"O-O-Out-t-to-san-n," she moaned, arching her back so she wouldn't have to scream in pain. However, that was the reaction that he was apparently looking for, because his hands quickly ran beneath her and grabbed her ass as she leaned back down; finally, he was in full control.

He squeezed tightly, causing Sachiko to gasp and emit a high-pitched squeak before pushing up again, the result of which was that her father went deeper in.

This time, she didn't bother to hide a shriek of pain as Kyousuke smirked sadistically, "Soon we'll have to use protection, my dear. You were lucky; you got to experience how wonderful not using it is first."

Sachiko grunted slightly before having a slight spasm as her father pulled her closer to him, pushing himself further into her, the ropes on her wrists and ankles digging into her as her father slowly pulled himself out, passionately kissing and straddling her for a few more minutes before standing up and throwing a blanket over his daughter, not bothering to untie her, "I'll be back soon, honey. Don't go anywhere."

* * *

Sachiko gritted her teeth against more screams as thunder bellowed, half-expecting her father to enter the cave.

_Just because something happened to you to make you afraid of thunder doesn't make you weak. What does is leaving Kouji-kun._

That made Sachiko blink in surprise as she slowly picked up her D-Scanner.

_Being brave isn't not being scared of anything; it's doing something even though you're afraid of it. Kouji-kun was brave; he was terrified of Archnemon but he went with her to protect you._

Seeing that Sachiko was still unsure, the voice sighed.

_Put the headphones on and finish listening to the song._

"Wait, what?"

_You heard me; do it!_

Hesitantly, Sachiko pulled the headphones on before hitting the 'play' button, continuing to listen to the song that Kouji had played for her earlier.

_"Better watch out, going for the knockout and I won't stop until I'm on top now. Not gonna give up until I get what's mine! Better check that I'm about to upset. And I'm hot now so you better step back! I'm taking over so watch me SHINE!"_

Pulling off the headphones, Sachiko's expression hardened slightly as the voice sighed again.

_Finally! Now are we going or what?_

"Yeah," Sachiko nodded slightly, forcing herself not to wince as thunder bellowed outside. "We're going."

* * *

"Hm," Archnemon smirked, stepping back to survey her handiwork. She had left Kouji with his hands pinned to his sides and had stuck another thread – which was connected to the roof of the cave – to his back, meaning he was hanging about three feet from the ground, his eyes narrowed into a glare. "Perfect. Don't go anywhere, honey; I'll be right back."

As she crept further towards the back of the cave, Kouji sighed in relief; he hated spiders and bugs of any kind, and having a giant half-woman, half-spider kidnap him was _not _helping with his phobia.

_At least Sachiko got away, _he closed his eyes slowly, only for them to flash open as he heard a rock bounce towards him.

"Kouji!" the object of his thoughts whisper-yelled as she ran towards him, a sharp stone in hand. "Hang on, I'll get you down."

"Sachiko, what are you doing?" Kouji quietly snapped as – further up the tunnel – Archnemon froze before slowly walking back to the raven-haired boy.

"An annoying little voice helped me figure a few things out," the foxette smiled warmly, barely flinching as thunder bellowed outside.

"Great," Kouji sighed in relief, wriggling slightly in the sticky threads. "Can you just get me down before-"

There was an enraged shriek a few metres away that caused Kouji to groan, "She comes back…"

"You!" the Digimon spat angrily, pointing at Sachiko. "I've had just about enough of you!"

"If you want me to leave, let Kouji go," the foxette demanded harshly causing Archnemon to narrow her eyes at Kouji – who gulped.

"You're proving to be more trouble than you're worth," she sighed, plucking several hairs from her head. "Oh, well. Maybe next time. Spirit Needle!"

The hairs stiffened in mid-air before shooting towards Kouji – who stiffened, eyes squeezed shut – only for Sachiko to lunge in front of him and take the injuries that the needle-like hairs inflicted.

As the duo stared at her in shock, she staggered to her feet, "Courage…the dictionary definition is 'the ability to face danger or pain without fear'. Want to know my definition?" She raised her head and glared at Archnemon, "The ability to face danger or pain no matter how scared you are in order to protect your friends!"

"You bitch!" Archnemon shrieked angrily, lunging for Sachiko only to stop suddenly as the ground in front of the latter cracked open and a glowing orb shot out.

"Huh?" Sachiko's eyes glazed over slightly as she stared at the fox-shaped figure which seemed to walk into her. Then the ever-pleasant voice snapped her out of her daze.

_Get the spirit now, you idiot!_

"Right," Sachiko nodded before holding out her D-Scanner – which absorbed the orb in front of her. "Spirit!"

Like Kouji and Takuya before her, she held her D-Scanner at arm's length before pulling it back and crossing her arms in an 'X' in front of her chest, waiting for the single ring of data to envelop her free hand before uncrossing them. She then raised her data-surrounded hand to her face and lowered her D-Scanner before holding them both as far apart as possible. Next, she narrowed her eyes and slammed the two together at an awkward angle, "Spirit…" she then pulled them apart, doing the opposite of Kouji by pulling her data-surrounded hand above her head so the data spiralled up after it, "Evolution!"

An extremely revealing outfit coloured jade appeared over her body, leaving most of her breasts and stomach untouched although large green flowers covered some of them. The hem of the outfit was a slightly lighter green with silver while a silver ribbon appeared around her waist. The outfit ended at the waist – much like a swimsuit – silver, knee-high boots adorned her feet. A silver cardigan with a jade hem appeared over her arms, revealing her shoulders and yet covering her neck. Her hair – while remaining the same colour – was shaken free of its ponytail and lengthened to where her boots began as a pair of fox ears pricked up in said hair and a long, busy fox tail grew from her tail bone. A symbol a lot like the Japanese character for courage - 勇 – appeared on her ribbon as a small green flower held back a strand of hair that threatened to fall into her eyes. A green material that stretched up from under her cardigan appeared over her mouth before her eyes flashed open revealing them to be a slightly brighter shade of green. Spinning, she ducked an imaginary kick, lashing out with one of her own before catching a falling katana in one hand and twirling it several times, placing it in a holster strapped to her back, "Azerimon!"

For a minute, Archnemon and Kouji alike gazed at the Digimon in wonder as she floated down to the ground. Then, the former began spluttering, "But…b-but yo-you're…_beautiful!_ Why are you pretty?"

"I think the question is more 'why are you so damn ugly'," Azerimon deadpanned before grabbing her katana. "Fuchs Klingen!"

As her katana began glowing a bright green, she leapt into the air and slashed at the thread that was keeping Kouji a prisoner, making sure that he was safely on the ground before turning back to Archnemon, "You know, I _really _don't appreciate it when you play on my weaknesses to get to my friends."

"And _I _really don't appreciate it when you barge in on my special time," Archnemon growled, recomposing herself. "Acid Mist!"

As the acidic mist floated towards Azerimon, she sighed, and flicked her hair over one shoulder, "This is really beginning to bore me…oh well. Mutig Schwingen!"

This time, Azerimon held the katana lightly in one hand as she ducked under the mist – which evaporated a moment later – before lashing out at Archnemon as she had to complete her evolution.

Smirking as the spider leapt up to avoid the attack, Azerimon plunged her blade into the Digimon's underbelly, causing her to shriek in pain as her Digicode surrounded her.

"Soul struggling against weakness," Azerimon sighed as she held up her D-Scanner before she pulled it across her body, causing the data surrounding Archnemon to float towards it, "bask in the courage you will someday hold! Digicode, scan!"

As the egg that Archnemon had faded into floated off, Kouji warily approached Azerimon – who fell to her knees, exhausted, "Sa…chiko?"

Nodding, Azerimon cried out in slight pain as data engulfed her, leaving her in her human form, almost unconscious on the floor, "Kouji…are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kouji assured her as he knelt down beside the foxette, "but what about you?"

"Just tired," she mumbled, closing her eyes slowly. "But…you should know…I'm sorry about before…I should have been braver…"

"You _were _brave," Kouji promised as Sachiko shook her head.

"No; _you _were. You hate bugs and spiders, yet you protected me…"

Kouji's eyes widened in shock at her knowledge of his fear, but she sighed once more, "You should know why I'm so scared of thunder…it's because of my father…"

"What about your father?" Kouji inquired after a minute, but he was met by silence; the foxette had fallen asleep.

Chuckling slightly, Kouji moved her into a more comfortable position, deciding to wait until the morning to retrieve his jacket, iPod and headphones.

Just as he was falling asleep however, he made a promise to himself. He would find out what was making Sachiko so afraid of thunder, and he would help her through it. He owed it to her…and to himself.

* * *

Just in case anyone was interested, the song was _Watch Me Shine _by Joanna Pacitti. Also, Kouichi will be coming into the story, don't worry. Just…not in the way some people might expect.

Sincerely;  
Your loyal author,  
Slinking Fox


	4. Duskmon ga Kenshi, Tera no Yami

_DD Leader Dark Heart of Water: _Yeah, that was a bit awkward, even for me. Thanks and sorry – I'm turning seventeen in a few months. Thanks again!

_wentvoltage123: _As I said, I apologise for that and if I have to bring up something like that again, I will change the story rating. Thanks for that and I'm glad you like it!

* * *

_Hey guys! I'm back again! I really can't keep away from this, can I? Anyway, sorry about the last chapter. Nothing like it this time; I swear!_

* * *

_I only own OCs and the annoying voice so please review! ...and don't sue!_

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage  
Chapter Four  
Duskmon ga Kenshi, Tera no Yami**

* * *

_Don't ever mistake my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance or my kindness for weakness - Anonymous_

* * *

Miyu sighed as she walked through the luscious green plants bordering the path that she was walking on. She had obviously made a mistake not going with Sachiko, and not just because the foxette had the cinnamon buns that she desperately craved.

But because of the freedom that being away from her elder sister provided. Miyu knew that Mizu had a good reason for being overprotective… but she didn't have to smother her!

If it hadn't been for Miyu, they wouldn't even be where they were! _She _was the twin who craved adventure! _She _was the one who – in all of her innocence – had decided that the text message was no ordinary game. And _she _was the one who took on the most work in the house.

Did Mizu look after their younger brother when their parents weren't home? Or take the care packages to their grandmother? Or even make her bed?

No, Miyu had to do everything, and yet Mizu wouldn't let her out of her sight for more than five minutes in the Digital World.

No matter how responsible she was in reality, she would always be the frail, sickly child that she had been that one week in Mizu's eyes.

Tapping her foot in random places, Miyu sighed, glancing up at the sky, whistling quietly, "_Kimi wo suki ni natte dorekurai tatsu no kana? Kimochi fukurande yuku bakari de."_

_"Kimi wa kono omoi kidzuiteiru no kana?"_ another voice – slightly deeper – chimed in, causing Miyu to whip around, her eyes wide in shock, "_Ichido mo kotoba ni wa Shitenai kedo…"_

"Who's there?!" she demanded roughly, easing into a fighting stance. "Show yourself, _now!_"

For a moment, there was nothing but awkward, paranoid silence. Then a boy who was extremely similar to Kouji stepped out of the bushes, his pale cheeks faintly flushed as he pulled his blue baseball cap further down on his head, shadowing his cobalt eyes and shaggy, raven-coloured hair, "Uh…s-sorry…"

"Who are you?" Miyu snarled in response, eyeing the newcomer warily; years of living in the poorer areas of Japan had taught her never to trust someone too quickly.

"Kimura Kouichi," he lowered his head slightly, his muscles rigid. "And you?"

"Akiyama Miyu," the darker-haired girl replied after a moment's hesitation. "So… _Kouichi, _do you have a D-Scanner?"

"D-do you mean this?" he stammered slightly, holding up a black device with a grey grip, causing Miyu to frown in confusion. Usually, at least one colour on the D-Scanners resembled something that the owner was wearing…but Kouichi neither wore grey nor black. Instead, he had a green shirt pulled over a wine-coloured top with white jeans and worn-looking green trainers.

"Yeah, that's it," Miyu pursed her lips slightly, eyes narrowed, her previously playful demeanour gone. "How did you know that song?"

"Uh…" Kouichi blinked slightly, still wary of the younger twin, "My grandmother…used to sing it to me when I was younger…"

Sensing a certain sadness in the boy's tone, Miyu's eyes softened, "When did she die?"

Kouichi stiffened, his eyes wide in shock, "H-how did you-?"

"I'm good at picking up on things," Miyu shrugged slightly as Kouichi lowered his head.

"…Two weeks ago…"

"Oh," Miyu's eyes softened even further as – muscles relaxing – she placed a comforting hand on the raven-haired boy's shoulder. "I'm…sorry…"

"Nothing to be sorry about," Kouichi shook his head, a smile settling into his features. "What are you doing out here?"

"My sister's a _bit _overprotective at times," Miyu shrugged. "I just needed to get away for a while."

"She just cares about you," Kouichi murmured, defending the twin he had never met, much to Miyu's shock.

"Yeah, I guess," the darker-haired girl sighed. "Still, it gets annoying after a while."

For a moment, Kouichi seemed to about to retort angrily. Then he took a slow breath through his nose and his fists – which he had clenched tightly – relaxed before he smiled slightly and pointed towards a small hill about a mile away from them, "If you want, I found a town a while ago. We could go there."

"Who said there was a 'we'?" Miyu growled playfully, causing Kouichi to blink. "I'm just messing with you. Where is it?"

A mischievous smirk appeared on Kouichi's face as he tapped Miyu's shoulder before running off, "You'll have to catch me first!"

"Huh?" blinking slightly, Miyu's eyes narrowed at the challenge before she sprinted after the raven-haired male. "I'll get you yet, Kouichi!"

* * *

Miyu sighed as she fell down onto the grass, Kouichi just in front of her, "How much…sugar did you have before…you came here?"

"None!" Kouichi smiled slightly as he extended a hand to help the younger of the Akiyama twins up. "I'm just generally like this*!"

Miyu shook her head in amusement before taking the boy's hand, "Yep, you're weird…by the way, Kouichi?"

"Hm?" said boy glanced at her.

"You're it!" Miyu laughed loudly before running towards where she could see the few houses that seemed to make up the town that Kouichi was talking about.

"Damn," the raven-haired male cursed before smirking and slowly walking after her. "Oh, well…Guess I'll just have to surprise her…"

* * *

Glancing behind her and seeing no pursuer, Miyu giggled and skidded to a halt, pulling a bottle of water out of her bag, "He's ages behind me by now."

"Boo."

Shrieking, she whipped around to find a laughing Kouichi behind her, "You! What did your mom teach you about scaring people?!"

"That it's fun!" Kouichi laughed in response before glancing up and yelping as a shadow flew over them, his previously playful demeanour gone. "Get _down!"_

Letting out a startled cry as Kouichi pushed her down, Miyu couldn't help but blush when she looked up to see Kouichi on top of her, one hand on either side of her head to make sure that she stayed down, "What the freaking hell was that?!"

"I have no clue, but I know it's not friendly," Kouichi grunted in reply as he stood up, offering his hand down to Miyu for the second time – although making no references to their game.

Frowning, Miyu glanced up, gulping as she saw what Kouichi had pushed her down to avoid; a large grey beetle with silver armour with blue rims, red eyes and a large, helicopter-like item on its back.

_Searchmon, Insect Digimon. It is an incredibly fast flier. Its special attack is Jamming Hertz._

"Oh gods…"

Miyu glanced at Kouichi to see his teeth digging into his lower lip, his face paler than before, "I hate bugs…"

"Just think of it as…uh…" Miyu paused for a minute, "a scorpion without a tail?"

"Yeah, that helps," Kouichi remarked sarcastically as she shrugged.

"Better than nothing…"

The two froze as Searchmon circled over them twice before making a beeline towards the town.

"Jamming Hertz!" he shrieked in a nasally, high-pitched voice, shooting a laser out of the helicopter-blade-like appendage on its back and aiming it towards a large building in the centre of the town.

"Night of Fire!" a child-like voice attacked in reply, throwing a large, dark fireball at the laser and intercepting it before it could reach the building. "Not so hot now, huh?"

"Jamming Hertz!" Searchmon shot another laser beam, this time directed at whoever had intercepted his last attack.

There was a quiet yelp that was soon muffled followed by a sadistic chuckle provided by Searchmon before it flew off.

Glancing at one another briefly, the duo sprinted towards the town, unanimously deciding that it was the right thing to do.

Glancing around as she slowed to a stop, Miyu's eyes widened as a beaten, bruised and bloody imp slowly stood up, a grimace on its face, its silver bandana and gloves torn, dust covering most of the smiley face plastered onto its dark grey stomach, "Alright; next time I want a gun…"

_Impmon*, Mini Devil Digimon. It loves pranks and is loyal to those it respects. Its special attack is Dark Song._

"Are you okay?" in an instant, Miyu was on her knees beside the small Digimon, her eyes sympathetic.

"Eh?" Impmon turned to her in shock. "Why do you care?"

"We saw what happened," Kouichi explained softly, sitting on his haunches, arms resting on his knees as the young Digimon glanced at him. "We just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"So you saw how weak I was," she spat angrily, glaring at the ground, her blue eyes narrowed. "Even a pathetic human thinks I'm weak…"

Deciding not to take offense, Miyu cocked her head to one side, "If you knew that you couldn't beat him…why did you fight him?"

"Beelzebumon is generally here to do that," Impmon began as she untied and retied her bandana around her neck, "but he was called to the Continent of Darkness for something so he left me in charge…I couldn't just let them get hurt."

Confused, both humans glanced sideways to see several small Digimon cowering inside a poorly manufactured safe-house, eyes wide in fear.

_Botamon/Kiimon, Slime Digimon. It has recently been born. Its only attack is Bubble Blow._

_Yaamon, Lesser Digimon. It can be quite a handful for a baby. Its special attack is Rolling Black._

"Aww!" Miyu gushed, stars in her eyes as she clasped her hands together. "They're adorable!"

"And helpless," Impmon added – although not unkindly. "I had to protect them…"

"So Beelzebumon left even though Searchmon was attacking?" Kouichi shook his head in disgust – causing Impmon to growl defensively.

"No; our leader would never do that! Searchmon only began attacking recently; after he left!"

"Why is he attacking?" Miyu glanced up, finished gushing over the babies. "He seemed to only want to hit that building." She pointed to the building that Searchmon had fired at, causing Impmon to sigh.

"He wants the Kenshi*."

"Kenshi?" Kouichi frowned. "Swordsman?"

"It is what we call the artefact," the imp explained, clutching one arm, a grimace of pain on her face. "The Nijū no Yogen states that the Kenshi will be claimed by the one who is worthy of another. He will purify the Kenshi and save the land from the Ngendika*."

"What is with the mixed languages?" Miyu groaned quietly to herself as Impmon paused to shoot her a quick glare before continuing.

"Until the hero comes, it must be stored in the Tera no Yami* or the Eodum ui Sawon* and unfortunately, Searchmon has found out that we've been keeping it in the Eodum ui Sawon…"

"Why don't you just take it to the Tera no Yami?"

Impmon involuntarily shuddered – an action which she instantly regretted due to the pain inflicted upon her, "N-no way; we're not cowards or anything, but we're not the strongest bunch of Digimon out there and if we had a direct attack from Searchmon…it'd be all over for us. I can't leave the town without putting everyone else in danger…especially the Kenshi. Searchmon just can't get it."

"What if we take it there?" Kouichi suggested after a moment, receiving a surprised look from Miyu and a scornful one from Impmon.

"You? You're just a weak human! If I can't beat Searchmon, what makes you think that you can?!"

"Just hear me out," Kouichi insisted, a small smirk on his face – which caused Miyu to freeze slightly. "What if you and I go to the Tera no Yami with the Kenshi while Miyu stays here and guards the village? I can distract Searchmon and you can quickly get to the Tera no Yami and hide the Kenshi there."

"I wouldn't need to hide it; once the Kenshi is placed inside, a force field will be activated," Impmon grunted, eyes narrowed slightly. "What is Searchmon kills you, huh?"

"I'll take care of my life, you take care of yours," Kouichi insisted.

For a moment, the Mini Devil Digimon remained silent, thinking. Then she smiled and thrust her hand towards Kouichi, "You've got yourself a deal!"

* * *

Kouichi took a slow, deep breath as he lifted the Kenshi from its podium in the Eodum ui Sawon, feeling its dark powers course through him.

"You ready?"

Snapping out of his daze, Kouichi glanced down at Impmon and nodded before handing her the Kenshi and following her out of the hall.

As he passed Miyu, the dark-haired girl quickly placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to glance at her.

For a moment, they simply stood there, staring at one another, Miyu looking as though she were about to say something to Kouichi. Then, her hand fell from his shoulder to her side and she took a small step away, "Be careful…"

"I will," Kouichi nodded, smiling slightly.

Then he and Impmon ran towards the few acres of woods that supposedly surrounded the Tera no Yami, leaving Miyu to protect the town and the young Digimon inhabiting it.

* * *

Kouichi stiffened as a loud buzzing filled the air, his attention quickly shifting to a clearly terrified Impmon whose eyes said the single word that he needed to know what to do.

Run.

Sprinting after the imp, Kouichi couldn't help but look back, gulping slightly as he spotted Searchmon slowly closing in on them, "You know what to do, Impmon."

Then he veered to the left, allowing Searchmon to come closer before he picked up a decently heavy stone and lobbed it at the Digimon, "Over here!"

Searchmon froze, shaking its head for a moment before turning to Kouichi, its eyes narrowing even further, "Anzen Kanrisha*…"

Unsure of what Searchmon meant but not liking the look in his eyes, Kouichi whipped around and dashed into the forest, running blindly as he pushed his way past brambles, briars, trees and trunks while Searchmon lazily flew overhead, his gaze trained on the raven-haired eleven year old at all times.

Finally, Kouichi burst into a clearing, stumbling slightly as he skidded to a halt, his eyes wide in amazement as he stared at the architectural masterpiece in front of him.

Pillars rose from the rocky ground to form arches thirty feet above Kouichi's head, stalagmites having formed out of the arches and curved sideways while stalactites had formed on the roof of the arches and spiralled downwards over a colossal throne, looking like fangs at the entrance to a mouth.

A large organ circled around the back of the throne while a small ring of crystal clear water formed a ring around the entire structure, seemingly producing a thin mist.

At Kouichi's feet, a message had been carved into the rock and – with Searchmon eyeing him to make sure that his prey didn't escape – he crouched down, brushing dust away from it to read it.

"Death… hope… a feud…" Kouichi frowned in confusion, yelping and falling backwards as Searchmon landed in front of him.

"Foes bear arms to the doors of death, after facing the icy breath," the Insect Digimon growled. "Of a fiend so pure, the hope is not sure if it can endure the consequences of an old feud, of which the spoils to the victor are still due. Courage is fear and love is hate, sincerity must accept her fate, creativity and randomness must bond, of the elements harmony must grow fond. The tyrant will take the land, against whom the forgotten two must stand."

Kouichi's eyes widened in shock, his hands trembling slightly as he tried to pick himself up, "W-what?"

"That is a part of the Nijū no Yogen," another voice gasped causing Kouichi to turn around to see Impmon behind him, Kenshi still in her grip, trembling with fury. "You…you shouldn't know that!"

"And yet I do," Searchmon buzzed angrily, eyes now fixed on Kouichi. "And I will do anything to stop it from coming to pass. Keep the Kenshi; I'll just kill the Anzen Kanrisha."

"You-?" Impmon glanced at Kouichi in horror as the raven-haired male held up his arms as though to protect himself from the inevitable attack.

"Jamming Hertz!"

"No!"

After a moment when no pain overcame him, Kouichi cracked open one eye, jaw dropping when he saw what had happened.

Impmon was floating in mid-air in front of him, her face distorted with pain as a ring of data surrounded her. Turning to Kouichi, she gave him a small, strained smile, releasing the Kenshi – which hovered five inches above the ground, just in front of the raven-haired boy, "You…you are the Anzen Kanrisha… you will be the one to purify the Kenshi; you are the only one who can…Kouichi…"

Kouichi's eyes widened in shock as shadows covered Impmon's body and the ring of data broke, streaming into Searchmon's mouth before the Insect Digimon turned back to Kouichi, "I guess I don't have to choose anymore; I can destroy both you _and _the Kenshi!"

"Impmon…" before Searchmon could take the Kenshi, Kouichi's eyes narrowed and he whipped out his D-Scanner, pointing it at the aforementioned object as the former buzzed angrily. "She…gave her life to save me, and you destroyed her…"

Glancing up, Kouichi shot the Digimon a death glare, his dark tone putting even Kouji's to shame, "I won't let her sacrifice be in vain!"

Kouichi held the D-Scanner at arm's length, eyes closed as the screen lit up. Pulling it back, he moved his arms in a windmill-like fashion so that his empty hand was stretched above his head. The raven-haired boy snuck a glance at said hand as a ring of darker data than Impmon's filled with dozens of small holes surrounded his hand, biting his lip in a slightly nervous manner before moving his arms so that his D-Scanner was above his head and his data-surrounded hand was by his side. Slamming the data and D-Scanner together, he bit back a scream of pain, "Spirit…" He then dragged the hand surrounded by data above his head, the data spiralling out of control around him, "Evolution!"

This time, he couldn't conceal a bloodcurdling scream of absolute pain as dark grey armour covered his body. His hair lengthened to his waist in a blonde, pin-straight-yet-rouge manner as eyeballs appeared on random parts of his armour, the largest of which were on his thick shoulder guards. His hands were morphed into dragon heads which each produced a horribly mangled blood red blade. A soft, black material covered his mouth as his skin and eyes greyed in colour, a long scar stretching from the top of either eye past the material. His head gear was somewhat like a dragon's mouth, teeth bordering the material around his mouth and nose, three gems posed to represent eyes where his forehead should have been and a few, small, dangerous points sticking out on either side. Where his armour wasn't as thick, his body was stick thin and red in colour, lined in a black substance that looked somewhat like bones while his boots were skull heads with an eye in each mouth. Slashing a sword through mid air, he blinked the only two normally placed eyes lazily as a slight breeze blew his hair back, "Duskmon!"

Glancing at Searchmon in an almost lazy manner, Duskmon extended his sword, "You really shouldn't have killed that Digimon…"

"Why?" if the Insect Digimon had a mouth, he would have most certainly been smirking. "Are you going to avenge her? You, who can barely grasp the powers of the Kenshi?"

"The problem with that theory," Duskmon's eyes narrowed a fraction with each syllable, "is that the boy isn't the dominant spirit here…_I _am."

For a moment, Searchmon hovered there, speechless. Then, his eyes widened in realisation, "Oh, shi-"

"Geist Abend!" red beams shot out of Duskmon's eyes – all of them – and his hands, immediately causing Searchmon's Digicode to appear. "Your data shall be purged of evil by darkness. Digicode, scan…"

As Searchmon's egg flew off however, Duskmon found himself falling forwards, his energy failing him, "Damn… this human is stronger than the others, but he's still weak…"

At that moment, data enveloped him, disappearing to reveal Kouichi lying unconscious on the rocky floor, his D-Scanner tightly clenched in his hand as a shadow bore over him.

* * *

"Impmon!" Kouichi shot up, his eyes wide only to knock heads with Miyu – who was sent reeling backwards.

"Owww!"

"Sorry," Kouichi mumbled, a blush dusting his cheeks slightly before he glanced around, finding himself to be on a bed inside the Eodum ui Sawon. "W-what am I…doing here?"

"It was the only place big enough for you to lie down," a voice grunted as Kouichi turned to see what looked like a human-blackbird hybrid in biker gear with a purple bandana around its arm and two large guns by its sides leaning against a wall.

"Beelzebumon?"

The Digimon nodded and stood up, moving towards Kouichi, "Kimura Kouichi; you now posses the Kenshi, the Spirit of Darkness. You are the only one who is able to purify it."

"What if I can't?" Kouichi glanced up at Beelzebumon, biting his lip. "What if it's someone else who has to purify it?"

"Then we're all screwed," Beelzebumon said bluntly, shrugging slightly. "No pressure or anything."

"Great," Kouichi mumbled under his breath, slowly climbing off the bed as Beelzebumon sighed and walked outside.

"You'll have to leave soon; the Kenshi will always be welcome, but the Anzen Kanrisha has always been a bad omen among us. It won't be long before the locals become distrustful."

For several minutes after Beelzebumon left, the duo stood in silence, both occupied by their own thoughts. Then Miyu yawned, stretching before she moved towards the door, "I guess we'd better go; I don't want to meet the Digimon version of an angry mob just yet."

"I'm with you on that," Kouichi shuddered, quickly following her, smirking slightly as they left the town. "Hey, Miyu?"

"Hm?" she glanced up at him, blinking in surprise as he tapped her shoulder before running off.

"You're it!"

"Huh?" Miyu stared after him in a dumbfounded manner for a minute. Then – remembering that he had never caught her again in their previous game due to the attack and was obviously continuing it – she tore after him, eyes narrowed with determination. "I'll get you, Kimura!"

* * *

Beelzebumon watched the humans go with a deadpan, his arms folded as he leaned against a wall, "May luck be with you humans. I pray that the rest of the prophecy does not come into play…for your sakes…"

* * *

_The stars I made will be explained/translated here._

In this, Kouichi will be hyperactive and playful just to keep the whole Yin-Yang thing going on between the twins…and I enjoy making him like that.Kenshi: SwordsmanTera no Yami: Temple of DarknessEodum ui Sawon: Hall of HellNgendika: TyrantAnzen Kanrisha: Preserver, protector, purifier

Oh, and the song is Eternal Snow by Changin' My Life if anyone's interested...please review!


	5. Randamu-sei ga Mezameta! Kakureta Tsuyom

_DD Leader Dark Heart of Water: _Thanks and once again I apologise for that. I know Impmon should be purple with red clothing, but… it's explained at the bottom of the chapter. It'll be explained later on as well, just not in this chapter. The Ngendika means 'The Tyrant' and I can't let that slip either. Sorry.

* * *

_Hey, guys! Once again, I apologise for chapter three and any nightmares or traumatising images it may have caused. If I need to bring up something like it again, I'll change the rating to M. Anyway, Happy Easter if you guys celebrate it and I'm seventeen today! :D Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

_I own only my OCs and their spirits_

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage  
Chapter Five  
Randamu-sei ga Mezameta! Kakureta Tsuyomi no Miyu!**

* * *

_A wolf does not lose sleep over the opinion of sheep - Anonymous_

* * *

Miyu groaned as she stretched, she and Kouichi having been walking for several hours before they reached the clearing that she had left the group at, "They were here when I left."

"That was over a day ago," Kouichi reasoned before pulling out his D-Scanner. "Do you think this can help?"

"All mine does is yell at us," Miyu shrugged. "Kouji's managed to bring up a map once though."

_Don't talk about me like I'm not here!_

"But you're not," Miyu groaned, silencing her D-Scanner. "This is getting annoying…"

Kouichi nodded in silent agreement before walking back through the trees, "They might still be nearby."

"True," Miyu shrugged. A few minutes later, she slumped forwards, "How big can this place be?!"

"Well, the D-Scanner said it was the Digital _World,_" Kouichi mused, "so I'm guessing it's pretty big."

"Can't you… I don't know… Spirit Evolve or something?" the dark-haired girl inquired, causing Kouichi to stiffen – which didn't go unnoticed by her.

The complete and utter bloodlust that he'd had as Duskmon had been maddening… almost to the extent of going back to the village and destroying everything and anything that crossed his path.

He wasn't eager to experience that again.

"Or not," Miyu shrugged, before grinning happily at the sounds of running water. The two sprinted forwards to find a small spring with a tiny waterfall that became a stream down into a village about twenty minutes walk away.

"We can go there later," she shrugged, cupping water into her mouth by use of her hand. "Drink first."

Smirking mischievously, Kouichi crept towards her, "You know, you look a little warm. How about you cool down?"

He then shoved her into the spring – which was deeper than it looked.

"Hey!" Miyu floundered in the water for a brief moment before glaring at Kouichi. The glare quickly turned to a smirk as he reached a hand down to help her out, "Thanks."

She took his hand before tugging it sharply and pulling him on top of her into the lake.

Popping out of the water, she giggled slightly as Kouichi shook his head like a dog to get some of the water out of his hair before splashing her mercilessly.

"You want to play it that way?" Miyu leaned backwards and went into the water again, headfirst, before swimming towards Kouichi, grabbing his ankle and pulling it up.

"Gah!" Kouichi's head disappeared underwater for a moment as Miyu began laughing uncontrollably.

When he didn't come back up, Miyu frowned in concern, only to yelp as he leapt out of the water behind her and threw his arms around her shoulders, pulling her down with him.

She turned to push away from him only to blink in surprise; underwater, he really did look absolutely identical to Kouji.

Then – realising their close proximity – the two pushed away from one another and swam up to the surface, blushing lightly.

"You may have won the battle, Kimura," Miyu looked at him gravely, the only sign that she was joking being the amusement in her eyes, "but I'll win the war."

"I was actually going to say that _you _won that round," Kouichi smirked. "But if you insist…"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Miyu shook her head. "You just said you thought I won!"

"And you just said you thought I won," Kouichi shrugged.

"There's only one way to settle this."

"Breath holding contest?"

"Precisely!"

Both children ducked under water at the same time, having taken a deep breath. Then – about two minutes later – Kouichi popped up, gasping for breath and flailing his arms in an attempt to steady himself on something solid; he had obviously overdone it.

After another moment, Miyu also emerged, slightly out of breath, but otherwise fine.

After helping Kouichi out of the water, she smirked, "I won!"

Before she could rejoice over that fact anymore however, she froze and slumped forwards, landing on Kouichi's chest.

Blinking in surprise, he began to push her off until he saw a small dart in the back of her neck.

Gulping, he pulled it out before standing up, D-Scanner at the ready. Hearing a whirring sound, he quickly raised his D-Scanner, "Spirit…Evolution! Duskmon!"

Growling, Duskmon raised his blade, deflecting the dart as Kouichi fought for control.

_Let me handle this one, _he told the raven-haired boy. _You're not experienced enough to wield my blades._

After a moment, Kouichi relaxed and Duskmon gained full control of the body.

Using his many eyes, he managed to pinpoint the attackers; three, Rookie level bats.

_PicoDevimon, Mini Devil Digimon. These Digimon cannot be trusted in any way and are known for their traitorous deeds. Its special attack is Pico Dart._

Duskmon growled, relaxing, "Hardly worth my time."

"Whaddya mean by dat?" one of the bats yelled indignantly, flying out to meet Duskmon. "We's da strongest fightas here!"

The bat had large, white claws, light grey skin and slightly darker fur. What looked like poorly-stitched black fabric covered most of its face and wings while its eyes were dark grey.

"I mean this," Duskmon stated coolly before slashing at the Digimon with his sword. The creature was cut cleanly in two, not even its fractal code remaining as Duskmon scanned it a second later.

"That was mah bruver!" another PicoDevimon cried as the remaining two flew out of hiding, one having a purple theme, the other having a more camouflaged brown one.

Duskmon eyed them lazily as they both raised their claws, "Pico Dart!"

The first one Duskmon reflected easily, but the second lodged itself into his armour.

Blinking at it, he shrugged and yanked it out, the poison barely affecting him.

"If you wanted to meet your end so soon, you could have just asked. Geist Abend!"

As the Digicode appeared around them, Duskmon pulled out his D-Scanner, "Your data shall be purged of evil by darkness. Digicode, scan…"

As soon as the Digicode was scanned, Duskmon sighed before glancing at Miyu.

_~If you hurt her, I _swear _I will destroy my D-Scanner~ _Kouichi threatened.

"You need me more than you realise," Duskmon warned before de-digivolving.

Gasping in pain, Kouichi glanced at his arm – which was bleeding. Apparently he had brought most of the wound with him when he de-digivolved.

Regaining his composure, he ran towards Miyu and lifted her onto his back and her arms around his neck as he turned towards the village.

After about ten minutes of running, he sighed in relief as he neared the village, a tall figure just in earshot, "Help!"

The figure paused and glanced up as Kouichi waved, "We need help!"

Nodding to show that it had heard him, the figure took to the sky with another just behind it, quickly reaching Kouichi, "What happened?"

"She got hurt," Kouichi explained as he set Miyu down on the grass.

_G__ā__gomon, Demon Beast Digimon. It is extremely loyal to whoever it sees as master. Its special attack is Statue Bomber._

_Angewomon, Archangel Digimon. Although her personality is gentle, she cannot forgive those who are evil and will attack until her opponent converts. Her special attack is Saint Air._

Gāgomon was large, white and had several dozen metal belts crisscrossing across his body. His face was scrunched up with two, curling ears and his wings were large and white. The only parts of blue on him were his unusually large claws and his long tail while a golden 'X' was nailed onto his left hand with a contrasting golden 'O' on his right.

Angewomon however was quite beautiful. Her hair was light purple in colour and reached her waist and eight, white wings were producing from her shoulder blades. A silver helmet covered her eyes, but her lips were rosy red and cherubic. A single, elbow-length glove covered her left hand and seemed to be merged with a bow while a soft, golden ribbon wrapped around it, arched over her head and finished by wrapping around her other arm. Her chest was covered by a golden, wing-shaped plate and the rest of her body by a thin material that parted at her stomach and hips. Belts wrapped around her right leg and stomach while her left leg was covered by the white material. One boot was sleek, shiny, had a golden power ring and reached her thigh while the other barely tipped her ankle and was covered by feathers.

"Angewomon," Gāgomon nodded at her as she stepped forward.

"If you'll allow it," she said to Kouichi, "Gāgomon can bring her back to the village quickly and heal her."

"That's perfect," Kouichi nodded in relieved agreement as Gāgomon picked the shorter girl up bridal style and flew back to the village.

"You look injured yourself," Angewomon observed, taking Kouichi's arm and examining the wound. "Do you need to be healed?"

"It's just a scratch," Kouichi protested, but Angewomon raised her hand over his arm anyway.

"Saint Air!"

A silvery stream of air hovered over the wound for a moment before seeping into it, causing the hair on Kouichi's arm to stand up before the wound closed as if it had never been there.

"Wow; thanks," Kouichi rubbed his arm slightly as Angewomon nodded.

"If I didn't, the poison from PicoDevimon's dart would have slowly killed you. You're lucky you only got scratched; your friend will survive with Gāgomon's help though."

"Right," Kouichi nodded as he began to follow her towards the village only to pause and frown in confusion. "Wait… how did you know about the PicoDevimon?"

"Uh…" Angewomon froze as Kouichi's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Were you… following us?"

"I'm sorry about this," Angewomon sighed, "but I must follow orders. Holy Arrow!"

She quickly drew, aimed and shot an arrow at Kouichi's head with speed so great that he couldn't dodge. Thankfully, it was a jindou*, but it was aimed at Kouichi's head with such force that it knocked him unconscious a second later.

* * *

Miyu tried to yawn as she awoke, but found it to be impossible not soon after. Eyes flashing open, she whipped her head around, finding herself on a hard surface, lying on her side with a gag in her mouth, her wrists and ankles tied, the former behind her back.

Beside her, Kouichi was in much the same predicament, the only difference being he had a large bruise forming on his right temple.

Eyes locking, they both glanced behind them at the table roughly two metres away, housing their D-Scanners.

Miyu wanted to ask Kouichi 'Can you move?', but it ended up coming out as, "Mn mm mphf?"

Confused, Kouichi raised an eyebrow.

_~What is she trying to say?~_

_Epic! I can read minds!_ Miyu smiled slightly. ~_Can you hear me, Kouichi?~_

Kouichi's eyes widened in shock as he nodded slightly.

_~Great!~ _If she could have laughed, she would have. ~_Can you get free?~_

For a moment, Kouichi squirmed, trying to untie the ropes cutting into his skin. Then he mentally sighed, _~The ropes are too tight.~_

_~Damn,~ _Miyu scowled before jumping slightly as the room's single door crashed open.

Gāgomon walked in, a smirk on his scrunched up face as he gazed at the confused eleven-year-olds, "Perfect; we can kill two birds with one stone. Get rid of our adversaries _and _make sacrifices to the gods!"

Chuckling slightly, he grabbed the two and walked outside with them throwing them to the floor, turning to a large crowd of Digimon as the two grunted in pain.

"Traitors!" he yelled, pointing at the humans as their D-Scanners were brought outside. "We were all told that humans would _save _our world, and yet here _they _are, fighting on the side of the fallen angels!"

Kouichi and Miyu glanced at one another in confusion, but Gāgomon quickly grabbed them – causing the latter to yelp in fear as he hoisted them onto a pile of sticks and tied another length of rope around their wrists so that they were actually tied to one another.

"Gods, we send these traitors to you as sacrifice to prove our worth," Gāgomon cried to the sky as Angewomon shuffled her feet guiltily while the other Digimon of the village looked on uncomfortably. "Hear us and protect our village!"

"Hear us and protect our village," the other Digimon echoed as Gāgomon smirked and gestured to a small, candle-like creature who glanced at the humans apologetically before taking a deep breath.

"Bonfire!"

Both Kouichi and Miyu screamed in terror through the gags as they squirmed, struggling to get away from the fires raging around them.

_~Hard to… breath~ _Miyu coughed, tears streaming down her face as she pulled her feet back from the flames.

Behind her, Kouichi nodded in agreement, struggling to stand in an attempt to evade them. _~Can you reach the knot?~_

_~Already tried~_ Miyu shook her head, still fumbling for the rope although she knew it was hopeless.

Feeling her finger brush off Kouichi's, she blushed slightly.

The raven-haired boy coughed and hacked violently, his face sooty, eyes watering as he slipped out of consciousness. _~Goodbye, then…~_

Eyes widening, Miyu finally managed to spit out her gag, "K-K-Kouichi!"

The boy remained silent however as the flames continued to climb higher, surrounding the two.

Eyes narrowing, Miyu glared at Gāgomon – who had his arms crossed and was smirking at her, "You will pay for this!"

Suddenly, her D-Scanner lit up and the flames froze, the heat changing to a pleasantly cool breeze as the ropes were snapped by an invisible source.

As her D-Scanner shot towards her hand, a small statue burst out of a large flame, glowing brightly as a transparent, tall, dark-haired woman walked through Miyu.

She then scowled, allowing her D-Scanner to absorb the statue, "I may enjoy jokes, but I don't find you trying to kill my friend and me amusing."

She held her D-Scanner in front of her until the screen of it lit up. Pulling it back, she raised it above her head as her empty hand was surrounded by a singular ring of data. Slowly, she traced two triangles, the data surrounded one tracing the triangle with the base pointing towards her feet, the hand holding her D-Scanner tracing the one with the base closest to her head. She then did a quick three-hundred and twenty degrees turn before crouching down as though to avoid an attack and slamming her hand into her D-Scanner above her head, "Spirit…" She then leapt up, her ankles touching her thighs as she swept her hand down, "Evolution!"

Her hair lengthened to her knees and was swept into a high ponytail and large, black ears pricked up amidst her fringe – which fell across her left sapphire eye as her teeth sharpened into fangs. Her skin paled significantly as chainmail covered her body, followed by a blue, Chinese-styled dress that reached her ankles. The dress was slit at the sides up to her thighs so that it would be easier to move around in and was hemmed in gold. A bronze-and-gold plaited belt looped around her waist, a charm a lot like the Japanese character for random – ダ – hanging on it. Black gloves hemmed in gold covered her hands as a long, sleek, black tail grew from her tailbone. Brown leather boots reached her knees as a scabbard appeared at her hip. She winked and giggled before back-flipping, catching two blades – one shorter than the other – as she did so. Landing, she sheathed the longer blade – a katana – twirling the other – a wakizashi – in her left hand as she placed her right on her hip, "Chaidanmon!"

Quickly, Chaidanmon scooped Kouichi into her arms and leapt off of the stake, placing him on the ground before slashing through his ropes with her wakizashi.

Whipping around, she glared at Gāgomon, irritably blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

Not wasting any time, he flew into the air, "White Statue!"

The white mass of stone was immediately thrown at Kouichi – which did not go unmissed by Chaidanmon's sharp eyes.

"Drache Weg!" transparent, midnight-blue wings sprouted from her shoulder blades, lifting her into the air to meet the statue. Quickly, she sliced it in two with her wakizashi.

"You insolent brat!" Gāgomon shrieked, pointing an accusing claw at Chaidanmon. "You've doomed us all!"

"The only one who's doomed is going to be you," Chaidanmon sang in a warning tone, leaning back so that the sole of her shoe was perfectly visible. "Tritt Arsch!"

Her boot glowed brightly, drawing Gāgomon's attention away from her katana – which she quickly unsheathed and slashed at the gargoyle with. Then, with his guard up for another surprise attack, she openly kicked him in the gut.

Growling, he shook his head like a dog, "Villagers! Rise against them to save our village and please the gods!"

An uneasy murmur rose among the Digimon. Finally, a brave PicoDevimon in tones of yellow piped up, "But… It's the Guardian!"

"This _Guardian _is on the side of the Ngendika!" Gāgomon sneered.

His accusations however didn't settle the villagers – all of whom backed away. Slightly nervous, he turned to Angewomon – who bit her lip before flying up to meet him, "You know I'd do anything for you, brother-"

"Excellent," the gargoyle cackled, turning towards Chaidanmon again. "Then let us finish her as siblings!"

"_But_," Angewomon cut her brother off, "this is wrong. We cannot attack the Guardian!"

"She abandoned our village in our time of need!" Gāgomon snarled. Seeing that Angewomon was still uncertain, Gāgomon smirked slightly, "She was the reason our brother died."

Angewomon's lips pursed angrily as she turned to Chaidanmon and drew an arrow, "I'm sorry about this…"

She then whipped around and tried to plunge her arrow into Gāgomon, but the Demon Beast Digimon simply summoned a black piece of stone, "Black Statue!"

As the statue crashed into her and her Digicode appeared, Angewomon smiled slightly at Chaidanmon, "I know this is your fight… but I couldn't let him talk about my brother like that…"

"It's a pity it had to come to this, sister," Gāgomon growled, holding up a hand and absorbing his sister's data, causing her to turn back into an egg, "but you betrayed us all."

Finding her voice, Chaidanmon bared her teeth angrily at the gargoyle, "You monster! How could you kill your own sister?!"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Gāgomon shrugged before turning back to her. "Now it's your turn."

"In your dreams," she snarled in retaliation. "Hunter!"

She crouched down on all fours as the transparent figure of a panther formed just in front of her and lunged at Gāgomon, biting his arm before running through him.

"It'll… take more than that… to beat me…" Gāgomon growled angrily only to stiffen as Kouichi shakily stood up and raised his D-Scanner.

"Need some help?"

"Don't need it, but it would be nice," Chaidanmon admitted as Kouichi nodded.

"Spirit… Evolution! Duskmon!"

"Geist Hunter!" the two yelled in unison, Duskmon aiming his red beams of energy at Chaidanmon's panther as it formed, causing it to glow bright red as it lunged at Gāgomon.

As soon as it made contact with the Demon Beast Digimon's body, the panther exploded, forcing Chaidanmon to take a step back before pulling out her D-Scanner as the smoke faded to reveal Gāgomon with his Digicode outside his body.

She held it above her head as the screen lit up, "Soul that squirms in darkness, always remember," she began as she swiped her D-Scanner across her body in a zigzag motion, watching as the data followed it, "that cashews come from a fruit and dancing babies are funny. Digicode, scan!"

As soon as the egg had floated away and the two de-digivolved, Kouichi gave Miyu an incredulous look, "Always remember that cashews come from a fruit and dancing babies are funny?"

"Shut up," Miyu blushed slightly out of embarrassment. "I don't know where it came from, okay?"

"W-well, Chaidanmon is the Guardian of Randomness," the Digimon who had lit the stake shakily hopped forward on its golden… candle holder? "I'm… I want to apologise for earlier. None of us wanted that to happen."

_Candmon, Digimon. This little firecracker is not the best fighter. His special attack is Bonfire._

"Then why didn't you fight Gāgomon?" Miyu inquired as Candmon bowed in apology.

"None of us are strong Digimon," he explained, gesturing to the villagers. "Angewomon and Gāgomon kept us safe from enemy Digimon. As you saw, not even Angewomon could defeat Gāgomon, so we stood no chance."

"Don't worry about it," Miyu smiled slightly. "Just try to pick better leaders next time, okay?"

"Got it!" Candmon agreed, blushing slightly.

* * *

"I like that village," Miyu smiled contentedly as she and Kouichi walked away from said area after having gotten medical attention from a Wizarmon.

"They nearly _killed _us," Kouichi shot her another incredulous look as she shrugged.

"What's your point?"

After a moment, he shook his head, "You're weird."

"Thanks so much!" she beamed at him in delight as he shot her another look. "You see, weird is good, strange is bad and odd is when you don't know what to call someone. Weird is the same as different, which is the same as unique, which makes you not normal, and why would you want to be normal? It's so _boring_! Therefore, weird is good."

"Okay then," Kouichi laughed only to yelp as a blurred figure sprinted out of the bushes and shoved him out of the way, latching onto Miyu.

"IMOTO-CHAN!"

"Mizu?!" Miyu blinked in surprise, having almost been knocked down as well.

As Kouichi stood up, he stared at the two in shock, his eyes turning to the bushes as six more figures came out.

"Who are you?" one of them asked suspiciously as Kouichi nervously bit his lip.

"Kouichi," a mouse-haired boy greeted as said eleven-year-old blinked in recognition.

"Koike?"

"Uh, you can let go, you know," Miyu sighed slightly, although returning her sister's hug just as tightly. "Guys, this is Kimura Kouichi."

"Nice to meet you, buddy," the goggle-head from the elevator smiled. "I'm Kanbara Takuya, the one hugging Miyu over there is her twin sister Mizu, the one with the violin is Saruwatari Hatsuharu-"

Mizu and the curly-haired boy holding a violin case tightly both glared at Takuya, the former releasing her sister.

"You already know Koike, this is Himi Tomoki-" a young, mouse-haired boy wearing a large, orange pumpkin hat "Orimoto Izumi-" a smiling, blonde girl, probably foreign if her hair and pale skin was anything to go by "and the one with the chocolate bar is Shibayama Junpei." A heavyset male wearing a jumpsuit.

"Nice to meet you," Kouichi bowed in greeting, smiling slightly as Takuya turned to Miyu.

"Why the hell did you run off? You and I could have been killed!"

"How could you have been killed?" Miyu raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You would have died and then Mizu would have killed me," Takuya explained.

"Right… anyway, sorry but I just needed some breathing space," she shrugged. "I'm not used to being around so many people. Besides, if I hadn't, Kouichi and I wouldn't have gotten our spirits!"

She proudly held up her D-Scanner, pressing a random button and displaying Chaidanmon's face.

"Well… fine," Takuya sighed, slumping forwards. "You win…"

"Score!" Miyu punched the air happily. "That puts me on ten and you on… four?"

"Three," Izumi corrected, holding up three fingers. "And I'm on eight!"

"Five!" Tomoki happily jumped in the air as Takuya groaned and Koike and Hatsuharu said 'six' in unison.

"You must seriously suck at arguing," Kouichi laughed.

"I do not!" Takuya yelled, blushing angrily as Kouichi glanced at the twins.

"Guys; judge's ruling?"

"He sucks," the two replied in laughing unison as Kouichi smirked at Takuya.

"I think that puts me on one."

* * *

Jindou: An extremely blunt arrow used for archery tournaments in Japan around the time of Hasegawa Satoshi and the five daimyos.

Also, as far as the differently coloured Digimon go, I wanted to differentiate them so most Digimon will be differently coloured, like the PicoDevimon and Impmon.

So, what did you guys think? Please review!

* * *

_Sincerely,_  
_Your loyal author,_  
_Slinking Fox_


	6. Ijime wa Yurusanai! Kōri no Chakkumon Sh

Hey, guys! I'm back! No reviews this time… I know from the views that people are reading this so WHY WON'T YOU REVIEW?!

Anyway… stuff.

I own nothing other than my OCs and their spirits.

* * *

Your _kind of magic is gone, yes. But there are other, forgotten powers that work – Sarah J. Mass_

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage  
Chapter Six  
****Ijime wa Yurusanai! Kōri no Chakkumon Shinka**

* * *

"If you still want to go home, all you need to do is get on this train!" Neemon said loftily as the nine humans stared at the blue Trailmon apprehensively.

"It's really that easy?" Hatsuharu blinked. "After what the D-Scanners said I thought it'd be way harder…"

"Same," Junpei nodded in agreement, uncertainty in his eyes.

"We'll be back in a moment," Bokomon growled as she pulled Neemon a few metres away and began snapping his waistband angrily at least a dozen times.

After a moment, Junpei grinned, "I'm taking that guy home! How about you guys?"

Everyone remained silent, pondering their answer in their mind as Junpei glanced at them, "Guys?"

After a moment, he rolled his eyes and jumped down from the platform, walking towards the patiently waiting Trailmon, "Stay here for all I care, then. Come on, Tomoki."

When a figure moved to follow Junpei, Takuya glanced sideways, expecting it to be Tomoki, but it turned out to be a guilty-looking Koike who seemed completely unsure of his decision.

"Tomoki?" Takuya turned to look at the nine-year-old. "Don't you want to go home?"

"Not really," he muttered, his hat shadowing his face. "I mean… I did at first, but then you became Agnimon, and Kouji turned into Wolfmon. You guys showed me that the spirits are here, and our D-Scanners told us that we need to find them."

"Tomoki," Hatsuharu crouched down beside the boy, "are you sure about this? If you stay, you might not get another chance to go home."

"I know," Tomoki nodded.

"No; you should go," Takuya contradicted, pushing Tomoki towards the edge. "Second grade is an informative year after all!"

"Takuya, if he wants to stay, he should stay," Hatsuharu placed a firm hand on Takuya's wrist. "He's old enough to make decisions for himself."

"He's only nine," Takuya growled, his eyes flickering blue for a brief moment. "This place is too dangerous for him! He was almost killed twice!"

"And yet he's still here!"

"Yeah; because Kouji and I protected him!"

"Maybe you should just let him choose for himself," Hatsuharu snarled, his teeth sharpening for so brief a second that Takuya wondered if he'd imagined it.

Shaking his hand free of Hatsuharu's grip, Takuya pushed Tomoki closer to the edge, "Go on; go home with Junpei and Koike."

Tomoki cast a sad glance at the Warrior of Fire before sighing and jumping down off the platform to follow the duo.

"There; he could have decided to put up more of a fight," Takuya smirked at Hatsuharu. "I believe that puts me on four."

Before the longer-haired boy could retaliate, Takuya turned to Kouichi and the three girls, "What about you guys? Are you leaving?"

"Why?" Izumi placed one finger on her lip in a mocking thoughtful stance as she smirked. "Would you miss us?"

Takuya clenched his teeth angrily, "I just don't want to be responsible for your safety!"

"I can take care of myself!" the blonde yelled angrily, crossing her arms as the goggle head sighed before glancing silently at the twins and Kouichi.

"We're going to stay," Miyu said quickly, pointing at her sister and herself although Mizu looked less than pleased about the solution to the argument that they'd been quietly having.

As Kouichi nodded in silent agreement, steam poured out of the Trailmon and it began slowly leaving the station.

"Ciao, boys!" Izumi called, waving her hand after the Trailmon. After a minute, she lowered it and sighed, "It's going to be so quiet without them."

"Good thing you're not without us then, huh?"

Everyone whipped around, eyes wide in shock to see Junpei, Tomoki and Koike slowly walking towards them, sheepish smiles on their faces.

"What are you guys still doing here?" Takuya exclaimed in shock as Junpei shrugged.

"To be honest, I have no idea!"

"Me neither," Tomoki grinned happily, winking at Hatsuharu as Koike shrugged in silent agreement.

"Well you're on your own then; I don't want to be responsible for your safety!" Izumi snapped, amusement in her eyes as Takuya glared at her.

"Are you mocking me? You're mocking me, aren't you? Gods, you try to be nice to a girl-"

"Are you sure you want to finish that sentence?" Mizu raised a threatening eyebrow as Takuya gulped and shook his head rapidly.

Seeing Hatsuharu walking towards him, Takuya glanced up to see a wide smirk on the boy's face.

"I believe that puts you back on three and me on seven."

* * *

Takuya yawned as he stretched his hands behind his head, leaving the village of the Flame Terminal behind him.

No one spoke and Bokomon and Neemon were staring wistfully at their home before the former began dragging Neemon by his waistband after the humans.

"You will help us, right Takuya-kun?" Bokomon queried as Takuya lazily glanced down at her. "You now possess Agnimon's spirit! Only you will be able to defeat the Digimon turned evil by the Ngendika! You must help us restore the parts of the Digital World that have been destroyed!"

Yawning again, Takuya shrugged, "I think you need to calm down, buddy."

"I'm not your buddy and I don't need to calm down!" Bokomon yelled as she jumped up and down angrily. "You need to understand the severity of the situation!"

As Izumi and Junpei glared back at her, she smiled sheepishly, "Sorry; I didn't mean to yell. But we need the data from the Digicode to rebuild the Digital World! Please; you're our only hope!"

By that stage, she was on her knees, hands clasped together, on the verge of tears. She then turned to glare at Neemon, "Come on, you moron; say something!"

"Some…thing?" Neemon blinked in confusion.

"Are you really that idiotic, or only when I'm around?!" Bokomon yelled, snapping Neemon's waistband again.

At that moment, a shrill, ringing sounded from the pockets of the humans.

Quickly pulling out their D-Scanners, they watched as a black symbol appeared on the screen.

_Everyone. There is a station in the forest._

"Station in the forest?" Takuya blinked. "How are we supposed to find it?"

As usual, the symbol faded from the D-Scanners only to be replaced by a slightly brighter one.

_Let's see… maybe find a map, ask a few people for directions…_

"You know, you could try being helpful sometimes," Hatsuharu growled.

_Sorry; this phone line is unavailable to retards. Please call again when you acquire a brain._

"Son of a…" Miyu paused, glancing at Tomoki briefly, "…flying hog!"

As everyone looked at her oddly, Bokomon pulled a large, green book out of her haramaki, "The station in the forest is at the end of this railroad."

"What do you think will be there?" Mizu pondered quietly as Bokomon slammed her face into the book.

"It…all it says is a forest."

* * *

As Bokomon pulled Neemon away from the town again, Takuya glanced at Koike and Junpei, "How come you guys didn't stay on the train?"

"I didn't want to leave Sachiko on her own here," Koike shrugged. "We've been friends since we were little kids, and it just wouldn't have felt right."

"And I think this world is interesting," Junpei added, blushing slightly. "I'd like to explore it with you and the others."

"Or Izumi," Takuya sniggered as Junpei glared at him, moving as though to grab the collar of his shirt but satisfying himself by clenching his fist.

"That's not what I meant!"

"You're blushing!" Takuya accused, pointing at Junpei's red cheeks as Koike smirked.

"I think they call that colour fuchsia."

"S-stupid," he stammered angrily. "What grade are you in anyway?"

"Fifth; is that a problem?" Takuya shrugged, not noticing Hatsuharu behind Junpei.

"Well I'm in sixth!" Junpei stated hotly as Hatsuharu shrugged.

"So what? I'm in seventh."

"Eh?" Junpei blinked in surprise before stalking up to the top of the group. "It's not important."

"Thanks," Takuya smiled gratefully at Hatsuharu – who shrugged smiling slightly.

"If you can arrange for us to stop tonight, we're even."

At the top of the group, Izumi glanced curiously at Tomoki, who was balancing on the train tracks, "I thought you wanted to go home."

"I want to be like Takuya-onii-chan," Tomoki explained, jumping down from the tracks. "To know what it's like to be a Digimon."

"But your parents will be worried," Izumi murmured as Tomoki stared down at his feet.

"They'll forgive me if I go back stronger…"

He then ran off ahead as Izumi stared after him, a sad look in her eyes, _For such a small boy, he seems to have a lot of problems._

* * *

The group of nine humans halted at the edge of a large canyon as the sun finished setting, Bokomon leaning forward to peer over the edge.

"What now?" Koike glanced sideways at Takuya. "Should you, Miyu and Kouichi evolve and try to jump it?"

"That's a long way down," Kouichi shook his head. "I don't think I want to find out if I can jump that far. Besides… Duskmon is…"

He cut himself off and shook his head as Junpei stepped forwards, pointing at the edges, "There's a path along the edge, and there's lights down below. Maybe there's a village down there."

"Right," Takuya nodded in agreement as he began running down the path that Junpei had pointed out to him.

"I thought the lights were right there," Junpei frowned, pointing at a spot on the ground across the river in front of him as – one by one so as not to fall in – the group crossed the stepping stones.

"It is strange," Izumi agreed, glancing around as she hopped off the stone.

As Takuya glanced at the duo, Hatsuharu turned, gasping slightly as he stared at the wall behind him, "Guys…?"

"What is it now?" Junpei groaned only to freeze as he saw what Hatsuharu saw.

A child-like figure with eight angelic wings wearing a toga with a power ring around his ankle was engraved into the cliff, bordered by two circles of symbols.

"What is it?" Mizu gaped in wonder.

"This is the Legendary Spirits ancient ruins!" Bokomon explained, looking up from her book. "On the right hand side are the symbols of the ten Warriors, and on the left are the ten Guardians."

"What's the difference?" Miyu inquired as Bokomon sighed.

"While the Warriors obeyed the three Celestial Angels, the Guardians would not bow to anyone and so were their own masters. But they knew right from wrong, and so helped the Warriors seal Lucemon away forever."

"Who?" Neemon blinked as Bokomon glared at him.

"Don't you know anything about the Great Battle?"

"…Nope…"

"Ugh!" Bokomon groaned. "In ancient times in the Digital World, the Human and Beast type Digimon were always at war with one another. Then one day, a Digimon called Lucemon appeared and stopped the fight. However, Lucemon grew mad with power and the Digimon suffered because of it. The Legendary Guardians and Warriors alike rose up against Lucemon and defeated him. That is the history of the Guardians and Warriors, and those are their symbols."

"Hey, Takuya-onii-chan," Tomoki pointed to the symbol at the top of the Warriors' circle. "Wasn't that on your belt when you evolved?"

"Yeah, and Kouji had the one beside it on his shoulder as Wolfmon," Koike noted.

"Kouichi, the one beside Kouji's appeared on your D-Scanner too," Miyu stated before turning to the Guardians' circle. "And that one was on my belt!"

"So if I get a spirit, I can evolve too!" Tomoki cheered as Junpei shot him down.

"Not everyone's likely to find a spirit."

As Junpei began to jot the symbols down on his hand with a spare pen he had held in his pocket, Takuya glanced over his shoulder, gulping, "Uh… over there…"

Surrounding them were dozens of Digimon that Miyu and Kouichi recognised as Candmon, three of whom approached them, the middle one holding a large match like a staff, "Humans! Why have you come here?"

"We're just trying to find the station in the forest," Takuya explained, taking a step towards them. "This is the only way we could get to it."

"You lie!" the staff-wielding Candmon snarled, the green fire on his pastel green body flaring. "You came to take our place here!"

"This place is sacred to us!" the Digimon to his right growled as the one on his left moved to step forwards.

"Get them!"

"You're wrong!" Bokomon cried, jumping in front of the humans. "These people are here to save our world!"

"We are?" Takuya blinked as Kouichi elbowed him.

"Shut up; she's trying to get us out of this!"

"I know that!"

"Then be quiet," he muttered, his eyes flashing grey for a moment before he paled slightly and looked down. "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it," Takuya smiled slightly before glancing back at Bokomon.

"Leave us be or these two will evolve into Agnimon of Fire and Chaidanmon of Randomness!" Bokomon cried, pointing at Miyu and Takuya, leaving Duskmon out of it – much to Kouichi's relief.

"Agnimon and Chaidanmon?"

"No way!"

"But what if it is them?"

"It's impossible!"

"Interesting," Candmon paused for a moment before hopping across the stepping stones. "Please pardon us; I am the Candmon elder of this area. Which of you hold the legendary spirits?"

"Takuya-kun and Miyu-chan," Bokomon pointed to Takuya and Miyu in turn, her eyes flickering to Kouichi for a moment before turning back to Candmon as he shook his head.

"Hm… this boy looks very strong," Candmon stated before smiling slightly at Miyu. "And you certainly do look random. Everyone; they are strong and random! Let us welcome them!"

As he hopped away, Miyu glanced at her sister, "Is it just me or did that seem-"

"Weird?" Mizu finished as Miyu nodded. "I know; Bokomon didn't even mix us up this time."

"I meant the Candmon!" Miyu whisper-shouted in exasperation as Mizu nodded.

"I know what you meant. I was just adding in my own bit too."

"Hey, who's the Guardian of Randomness here; you or me?" Miyu growled playfully as Mizu rolled her eyes before following their friends.

* * *

"Come closer," Candmon ordered in an excited tone, indicating to the large bonfire around which a dozen Digimon were dancing with two large clovers in each hand. "Everyone is celebrating and the bonfire is warm."

"I never would have guessed that," Koike muttered sarcastically as the group moved closer to the fire, taking a small step back as the Candmon threw the clovers into the flames.

"Nap time!" they yelled as Bokomon picked up a stray leaf.

"These are sleeping clovers," she exclaimed in disbelief.

"So that means," Neemon began only to fall flat on his face, Bokomon collapsing on his back a second later.

"So…tired…" Kouichi moaned as he fell forwards, followed by the twins – who collapsed at the same time.

"Night," Tomoki mumbled as he fell backwards with Izumi and Junpei. Both Takuya and Koike managed to stay awake though, although both were severely weakened and watched as Hatsuharu groaned before flopping forwards next to the twins.

"I pity the legendary spirits; they must have been truly desperate to call on you," Candmon shook his head from his place on a podium as Takuya gritted his teeth.

"Us Candmon are in charge!" he continued as Takuya shook Tomoki slightly while Junpei and Izumi struggled to stand with Koike's help.

"Takuya; there!" Koike yelled, pointing to the river. Nodding, Takuya pulled Tomoki in as Koike pushed Junpei and Izumi in just before jumping in himself while the Candmon aimed attacks at them.

"Bonfire!"

_I…can't swim! _With that realisation, Tomoki's eyes flashed open as he flailed about in the water. Thankfully, Takuya pulled him up before he fainted.

"I'll never complain about my alarm clock again, but at least I'm awake," Izumi gasped as Koike helped her to the surface.

"Why can't Agnimon just burn them?" Junpei inquired as Koike shook his head.

"They're fire Digimon themselves; they'd be resistant."

"He's got a point," Takuya nodded in agreement.

"But if they're fire Digimon, then they can't get near water!" Izumi concluded, ducking underwater as the Candmon hopped towards them.

"Found you! Bonfire!"

The others had caught on though and had gone underwater just in time, Takuya pulling his goggles over his eyes so that he could lead the other three to a hiding place, Tomoki still in his grasp.

"Find them!" they heard the elder Candmon order harshly as they resurfaced behind a large boulder.

"If they find us here, we'll be trapped," Koike muttered, glancing at the cliff wall behind them.

"They won't," Takuya promised. "I'll distract them so you guys can get away."

"Wait, what?" Junpei glared at him. "That's not a good idea! You're always trying to be leader, right?"

Koike nodded in agreement, "You wanted to be leader, we need you to come with us."

"They're right," Izumi glanced out at the bonfire. "Besides, we can't leave the others!"

"I'm sorry," Tomoki sighed. "If I could become a Digimon, I could help-"

"Don't worry about it. Just get out of here!" Takuya said somewhat harshly. "I'll take care of the others."

"But what if you change back?" Junpei pressed.

"He's right; you don't know how to use your spirit properly yet!" Izumi argued before everyone ducked underwater as the Candmon passed them on the opposite bank.

"I'll handle it," Takuya growled, pulling on his goggles. "Get to safety; I'll be fine."

Before anyone could protest further, he swam to shore.

Gnashing his teeth, Koike turned to the wall, "Let's get out of here."

Just as they reached a ledge however, they heard a loud cry, "Over there!"

Stiffening, they all glanced down to see the Candmon firing blasts of fire at Takuya, who was struggling to get his D-Scanner to work.

"Evolve, evolve!" he muttered angrily, pressing random buttons.

Another blast of fire aimed at his feet forced him to drop his D-Scanner – which skidded a metre away, "Damn it!"

"You can't run anymore!" the Candmon laughed as Takuya glared at them before lunging forward, back-flipping as he grabbed his D-Scanner.

"Whoa," Koike gasped as he managed to clamber onto the ledge and moved to help Tomoki up.

Holding up his D-Scanner, he growled, "Let me evolve!" At that moment, the Digicode finally surrounded his hand, "Spirit…Evolution! Agnimon!"

"Ci!" Izumi cried happily, pumping one fist in the air as Koike and Junpei helped her onto the ledge.

"Well I'll be damned," the elder Candmon gasped as Kouichi groggily shook his head. "He really can become the legendary Agnimon."

"Told you," Kouichi murmured, sitting up slowly.

"Burning Salamander!" Agnimon yelled, shooting fiery darts at the Candmon only to gulp as the flames on the top of their heads grew. "Koike was right…"

"That wasn't too smart of him," Junpei groaned before turning. "Come on; we'd better get out of sight before they see us."

But unfortunately for him, he didn't watch where he was walking and so slid two metres into a tall pillar due to the ice-coated floor, "I hate ice skating!"

"Come on," Koike took a few careful steps forward. "I doubt they'd look for us in there. Just try not to slip."

At that moment, Izumi stood on a particularly slippery patch and shot forwards, crashing into Koike and latching onto his shoulders to steady herself.

Tomoki on the other hand was moving around with ease and ran back to the entrance as he heard Agnimon yell in pain to see him struggling to block the heat from two blasts of fire.

"Please," he pressed the two buttons on his D-Scanner. "Just give me a spirit so I can help Takuya-onii-chan!"

By that stage, both the twins and Kouichi had woken up completely, but three Candmon had them surrounded and were keeping them busy by shooting small blasts of fire at their feet and the still-unconscious Hatsuharu, not giving Miyu or Kouichi the chance to spirit evolve what with avoiding the fire and protecting their friend.

"The legendary spirits wouldn't go to you, Tomoki; you're just too young," Junpei scowled at his own D-Scanner. "It's up to me this time… I just wish this came with a manual!"

"Melt Wax!" one Candmon yelled, spinning wildly and shooting hot wax at Agnimon who shrieked in pain.

"Cut it out!"

"Agnimon!" Tomoki yelled, recalling how Takuya had protected him on several occasions. "Hang on; I'm coming!"

"I…can't…move!" Agnimon gasped as Tomoki slid down the cliff.

"Don't worry, Takuya-onii-chan!"

"That kid must be suicidal!" Koike groaned, running a hand through his hair.

Tomoki then took off his hat and dipped it into the lake, tossing the water at the Candmon, "Lights out, meanies! I won't be just a little kid in the way ever _again_!"

Behind the trio atop the ledge, a bright beam of light shot out of the ice, a small orb shooting towards Tomoki as Izumi's eyes widened in shock, "Mamma mia…"

Eyes widening as the orb landed on the lake, freezing the water around it, Tomoki replaced his hat on his head, "A spirit? _My _spirit?"

He then gripped his D-Scanner tightly, pointing it at the white figure, a thin beam of light drawing it into the Digivice.

Unlike the previous ones who had spirit evolved, Tomoki's face bore a wide grin as the screen on his D-Scanner lit up. Pulling his Digivice back to his chest, he threw one hand forward, flicking his wrist so that the palm of his hand was facing his face as the ring of Digicode surrounded it. He then pulled that hand back and held the data and device level to one another for a brief moment before slamming the two together, elbows pointed out at awkward angles, "Spirit…" He then twisted his hand as he pulled it down, forcing the Digicode to run around his body in unpredictable waves, "Evolution!"

Short, white fur replaced Tomoki's skin and his fingers bound together until three replaced the five. His face became more rounded, a red streak appearing on either side of his face as he grew an inch in length. Two, fuzzy ears popped up on his crown as a green helmet built to look like earmuffs surrounded them, a small bear's head etched into it. A similar green vest covered his otherwise bare (no pun intended) torso, a character extremely similar to the Japanese kanji symbol of ice appearing in the middle of it. An orange holster appeared on his right arm, and green boots with orange laces covered his feet. A pair of bright orange skis appeared on his feet as he slid around a few invisible obstacles, jumping high into the air before landing and turning into a puddle of snow. The puddle then rose slightly to reveal wide, brown eyes and a tiny black nose before he leapt up again, forming from the puddle and giving a two-fingered peace sign, grinning widely, "Chakkumon!"

"It's amazing!" Izumi gaped as Junpei scowled and Koike tapped the back of the elder boy's head lightly.

"It's impossible!"

_It's Tomoki! _Agnimon realised as the Candmon ceased their attacks on the four near the bonfire, although not allowing them to get closer to their friends.

"That's Chakkumon; the Legendary Warrior of Ice!" Bokomon read from her book, unbothered by the Candmon; apparently they didn't mind other Digimon.

"Time to teach you bullies a lesson," Chakkumon growled angrily, blowing a deep breath of freezing air at the Candmon closest to him – who was immediately frozen solid. "Kachikachi Kocchin!"

"So teddy bear, you want a playmate?" the second Candmon smirked, surrounding himself in a tornado of flames. A moment later, he hit the ground as a completely different Digimon.

_Wizarmon, Demon Man Digimon. Although it likes playing pranks, it has a shy side and so tries not to uncover its face. Its special attack is Thunder Cloud._

Wizarmon had pale, blue skin and bright sapphire eyes with a navy cloak – the collar of which hid the bottom half of his face – that was fastened by a skull-shaped clip. On the inside of the cloak, golden symbols were randomly placed, but it was hard to focus on them and not the yellow jumpsuit with the half-dozen mouth and eye shaped zips that were rimmed in red. On his feet were tattered brown boots that seemed hand-sewn with two golden moons attached to them and a navy wizard's hat with a large skull covered his straw-blonde hair. In his right hand was a long golden staff.

"Kachikachi Kocchin!" Chakkumon blew a breath of air at Wizarmon, but the Demon Man Digimon dodged the attack and drop kicked the bear a metre away.

"Looks like the great Agnimon can't handle the heat-" Wizarmon began only to be cut off.

"Hey; keep your attention on this battle!"

He quickly whipped around to find Chakkumon pointing a Romeo launcher with six, snowball-shaped holes in it, "Snow Bomber!"

The attack threw Wizarmon back a few feet, but he managed to keep the damage to such a minimum that he remained standing by using his staff to block it, "Not bad, teddy; how about a little Magic Game?"

He then flickered out of existence, the only hint of where he might be being a slight waver in the air that was almost impossible to keep one's eyes on.

"Thunder Cloud!" Chakkumon dodged out of the way of the oncoming thunder bolts, having heard the slight whisper.

"Not bad, legendary warrior," Wizarmon said as he reappeared in front of Chakkumon, flicking his staff slightly and making a dozen other Wizarmon appear, surrounding him, "too bad you're going to lose, no matter which warrior you choose!"

"Which one is the real one?" Agnimon gasped from his place a metre away from the circle, but Wizarmon ignored him.

"Chakkumon, don't you see? All these warriors are me! We all look real because we are; you can try to run, but you won't get far!"

"All I want to do is get as far away from your terrible rhyming as possible," Chakkumon growled, revealing slight fangs for the first time. He had managed to keep his eyes on the real Wizarmon, forcing himself not to be distracted by the others.

"You're cocky, but your eyes have been shrouded," Wizarmon taunted. "I'll save you the pain and kill you now! Thunder Cloud!"

Forcing his skis to appear as he jumped out of the range of the thirteen oncoming thunder bolts, Chakkumon skidded down the cliff edge, confirming his suspicions about the real Wizarmon when he saw that only one had a shadow.

"Kachikachi Kocchin!" he shot a large blast of freezing air at the Wizarmon's feet, forcing him to lose concentration when he realised that his feet up to his waist was frozen solid.

Growling, he glanced down at his ice-covered feet only to gulp as he looked up to find Chakkumon's Romeo launcher pointed at him, "Snow Bomber!"

Wizarmon's screams filled the air as his Digicode appeared and Chakkumon held up his D-Scanner in a tight grip, struggling not to drop it as the screen lit up, "Soul squirming in darkness, be purified by the ice! Digicode, scan!" He then swept the device over his head so that the data had to slope upwards to reach it.

As Wizarmon de-digivolved into Candmon, Agnimon broke free of the wax and walked over to Chakkumon who had fallen to one knee, exhausted, "Thanks, Chakkumon."

Looking at the outstretched hand, Chakkumon grinned happily, "No problem."

"Yeah; molto bene!" Izumi cried happily as Junpei roared in agreement while Koike called 'tres bien'.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself," the elder Candmon admitted, "but you are worthy of carrying the legendary spirits, Takuya-kun, Tomoki-kun and even Miyu-chan who put her safety at risk to protect her friend."

Hatsuharu who had recently woken up blushed slightly with guilt, thanking Miyu quietly.

"You have honoured the great names of Agnimon, Chakkumon and Chaidanmon," Candmon continued. "I salute you both."

* * *

"I owe you an apology," the elder Candmon sighed before blushing slightly. "The truth is we thought that you might possess the legendary spirits, but we had to be certain. I'm sorry that we didn't trust you."

"So you're saying this was a test?" Miyu fumed angrily. "What kind of sick minds have you? We could have been killed!"

"I'm so sorry," Candmon sighed. "You have every right to be angry."

By that time, Tomoki had stopped listening and was staring at Chakkumon's spirit, but upon hearing a loud beeping noise, he pressed one of the buttons causing a stream of data to fly out of it.

"So Wizarmon had the code?" Bokomon gaped up at the top of the canyon – where a bridge housing a train track now stretched from one side to the other.

"Wizarmon held the Digicode for the bridge to protect the village from evil Digimon," Candmon explained, glancing back at the group. "No one has crossed this canyon for many years, but you have my full permission to do so in order to find the station in the forest. But I warn you; it's a perilous journey."

"There's always time to go home, right guys?" Junpei muttered hopefully as Izumi giggled.

"You're just jealous because Tomoki found his spirit first."

"Why would I care about that?" Junpei shrugged. "It's just too much like working here!"

Glancing up, Koike couldn't help but grin slightly, "Looks like someone beat us across the bridge, guys."

_I wonder if they got the message too, _Takuya wondered as he watched the end of the train cross over the bridge.

* * *

So what did you guys think? I thought it was a bit mean of Takuya to steal Chakkumon's limelight, so I had Tomoki finish the battle himself. And I didn't bring Chaidanmon in because I didn't want him to get help because he needs to show he's strong and the reason Kouichi didn't spirit evolve is because he's scared of Duskmon as we all know.

Please review and no flames!

* * *

_Sincerely,  
Your Loyal Author,  
Slinking Fox_


	7. Shinrai o Kowasu! Akumu wa, Ai o Motte K

_DD Leader Dark Heart of Water: _Thanks so much, and that's why I did that. I always feel sorry for him. XD Yeah, I couldn't keep a straight face while writing that! Hope this was soon enough for you!

_Momochan77: _Thanks so much for reviewing and sorry that I didn't update sooner. Sorry that I didn't use the mouse for this, but it _will _come up later on, I promise you that!

* * *

_Okay, I'm back. Sorry for the wait, but I hit a huge writer's block. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter._

* * *

_I only own my OCs and their spirits._

* * *

**Digimon Frontier: The Guardian of Courage  
Chapter Seven  
Shinrai o Kowasu! Akumu wa, Ai o Motte Kuru!**

* * *

_If you were fine you wouldn't be sprinting through the trees looking as sad as you would if your dog died – Akira Sasuke (I love that quote! It's just so weirdly written! XD)_

* * *

"How hard can it be to find a train station in a forest?" Mizu sighed as the group treaded through the desert-like area of land, wiping sweat from her brow. "Come to think of it, how is it so hard to find a forest here?"

_Because you don't know where to look._

"If you're so smart, then where are we supposed to go?" Koike growled.

_I never said that I knew. I just said you didn't know._

"Jerk."

It had been three days since Tomoki had found his spirit and since then they had made their way through two towns and a strange icy land of no more than a hundred metres in length.

After a few more minutes, Izumi sat down, "Okay; I need a break."

"Already?" Koike sighed, although he was equally exhausted. "We should really keep going."

"We could all use the break," Takuya reasoned as the twins and Tomoki sat down as well.

"But it _would_ be easier to reach the station in the forest and _then_ take the break," Hatsuharu cut in.

"No way; I'm not taking another step for at least half an hour," Junpei groaned.

Seeing Koike's temper rising, Kouichi put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "How about we just rest for the night. It won't do us any good if we collapse."

After a moment, Koike sighed, "Fine…"

Then Miyu jumped up happily, ecstatic with the promise of a break, "We're stopping?!"

"We'd better get out of the heat first, though," Izumi murmured, standing up as well before offering a hand to Tomoki – who took the help gladly.

A few minutes later, just as the sun began to set, they came across a cave that was just large enough to fit all of them without squashing them.

"Finally; some peace and quiet," Hatsuharu sighed in relief only to flinch as a pebble was thrown at him. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You jinxed us!" Izumi groaned, another pebble in hand.

"I don't think so," Koike shrugged. "The cave's pretty well hidden; it took us a while to find it. I don't think any Digimon will find it- Hey! Stop throwing pebbles!"

"I will when you stop jinxing us," Izumi growled.

Then something strong and sturdy suddenly appeared in front of the entrance to the cave and the sounds of footsteps echoed around the group.

"I'm going to kill you guys!" Izumi shrieked just before something hard knocked her over the head, causing her to pass out.

* * *

"Takuya? Takuya!"

Takuya opened his eyes to find himself lying on cold, hard rock as opposed to the soft interior of the cave that they had been in before; he assumed that the floor had been coated with moss.

"Where… are we?" he groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up to find none other than Kouji hovering over him, a carefully concealed worried look in his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"We got a Trailmon to the last terminal, but it wouldn't take us any further," a voice from behind Kouji stated and Takuya glanced behind the raven-haired boy to see Sachiko leaning against one of the walls with a bored look on her face. "So we decided to walk to the station in the forest. We stopped in a cave for a rest, and…"

She didn't need to continue.

"You got the message too?" Takuya inquired, pulling his D-Scanner out of his pocket and pointing to it.

Sachiko scoffed, rolling her eyes, "No, really? What gave you that idea?"

"What's up with you?" Takuya yelled angrily as Kouji muttered to him.

"They took all of her cinnamon buns so now she's completely pissed."

"I heard that!" Sachiko scowled, arms crossed.

Standing up, Takuya glanced around to see Hatsuharu helping a dizzy Tomoki into a standing position while Junpei attempted to help Izumi, but only succeeded in falling due to his own dizziness. Miyu, Mizu and Kouichi were still unconscious, but Kouichi seemed to be coming around.

Unfortunately, Koike was nowhere to be seen.

They were in a three-walled room with bars preventing their escape. It was spacious compared to the cave that they had been in, but compared to almost anywhere else, it was very cramped.

"Hey, you okay?"

Takuya glanced up at the sound of Kouji's voice again, only to find that the statement was directed at Kouichi, who held back a gasp before redirecting his eyes to the ground and nodding slowly.

"Are you sure, buddy? You look kind of pale," Takuya murmured, noting that Kouichi _did_ look extremely pale, as well as slightly clammy. So did the unconscious Miyu as a matter of fact…

"I'm fine," the raven-haired boy mumbled softly.

"If you say so," Takuya shrugged as Kouji pulled out his D-Scanner, seeing the twins' eyes flash open at that moment.

"Since everyone's up, do you want to get out of here?"

"We can't just leave Koike," Hatsuharu protested.

"He isn't even here," Kouji retorted. "We'll have a better chance of finding him if we get out."

"…Fine…" the tanned boy gritted out through his teeth.

"Spirit… Evolution!"

"Agnimon! Salamander Break!"

"Wolfmon! Licht Seiger!"

"Azerimon! Fuchs Klingen!"

"Chaidanmon! Hunter!"

"Chakkumon! Snow Bomber!"

"That's sure to have worked!" Agnimon cheered, only to be hit by a pebble thrown by Izumi, who muttered something about 'jinxes'.

A cloud of smoke shrouded everyone's eyesight for a brief moment, but everyone was satisfied with the thought that the bars had been destroyed.

Until the smoke cleared, revealing the barrier completely unharmed.

"Aw, come on!" Agnimon whined.

Chaidanmon glanced sideways at Kouichi, _~Do you want to try using Duskmon on them?~_

_~No,~ _he replied, not meeting her eyes. _~It's too dangerous with so many people here…~_

She nodded in understanding before de-digivolving with a sigh of irritation, "There goes our great plan…"

"And I thought that they were stupid enough to leave us with an escape route," Sachiko whined. "First they take my cinnamon buns thinking they're weapons, then they turn out to be smart. What next? Koike becoming an evil genius?"

"Seriously you guys! You're all jinxing us!" Izumi shrieked hysterically.

Silence reigned over them for a moment before Miyu groaned, unable to stand it, "I wish we could just get out of here!"

Then she froze as the sounds of heavy paws neared them, all of them turning to see a giant grizzly bear that was blue and white in colour wearing red-brown armour with a moon-shaped patch of fur on its forehead and large claws and teeth alike.

_Gryzmon; Beast Digimon. His speed allows him the option of not using attacks. His special attack is Crescent Dawn._

He glared at them for a brief moment before leaning towards the bars and snapping the lock that was holding the door in place with his teeth, opening it by nudging it with his muzzle, "Go on, get out of here."

For a moment, everyone remained still. Then Miyu looked hopefully up at the ceiling, "I wish for a hundred million yen?"

When nothing happened and the rest of the group stared at her in confusion, she sighed, standing up, "Had to try…"

Gryzmon led them through countless hallways to a set of large, double doors, at which a pair of scaly humanoids stood.

They both had green skin, although one shade was lighter than the other, and wore a blue necklace of teeth around their necks. A feather that was either blue or black – depending on the Digimon – was bound by a belt to their heads while their feet were large, sturdy and had blunt claws. Trousers that matched their respective feathers covered their legs and at least seven knives were strapped to their backs, as well as two smaller ones that were attached to their armbands – which matched their trousers.

"This is as far as I can take you," Gryzmon narrowed his eyes. "But if _anything_ unusual happens, it will be to you that I go."

As the Beast Digimon left, the two humanoids pulled open one door each to reveal multiple other Digimon of their and Gryzmon's kind rushing around a very flustered Koike, several of whom were either trying to place a crown on his head, a cloak around his shoulders or usher him onto a throne.

Eventually, he gripped his head tightly, "_Stop_!"

Immediately, every Digimon in the room froze and he glanced at them, "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"I think we'd like to know that as well," Sachiko stated, smiling warmly at Koike as he glanced at her in relief.

Hesitantly, a Gryzmon with a yellow-coloured theme stepped forwards, "Perhaps it would be best if I show you…"

* * *

"The hell?" Koike gasped as the Gryzmon halted in front of a golden-framed painting.

In the painting that the frame held was a young girl of no more than eight years old. She had the same mousey brown hair as Koike, although she lacked his sparkling green eyes. Her skin was pale and she was wearing a pale yellow tank top and a pair of pink leggings with a pink scarf and a whistle around her neck.

Underneath the painting written in delicate writing were the words 'Yagami Hikari; Holy Light of the Digital World'.

Slowly, Koike reached into his hoodie and pulled out a whistle that only Sachiko knew he kept there; one that was extremely battered, but still recognisable as the one in the painting, "Okaa-san…"

"That's your mom?" Tomoki gaped, eyes wide.

"When she was younger, yeah," Koike replied numbly as Gryzmon bowed his head.

"It has been a very long time since she was here, and the Digital World has changed much since then," Gryzmon explained, "but the effects of her Holy Light remain here to this day. Had she stayed, she would have been a fair and just ruler, but even if she had known of the offer that we were going to give her, we doubt that she would have stayed. She cared too much about her friends to leave them."

His eyes then hardened slightly as he turned to Koike, "Which is why you must take her place! You and only you can rule over the kingdom that she was destined to claim!"

"What?" Koike's eyes widened in shock.

"Koike a prince?" Mizu blinked.

"King actually," Gryzmon corrected with a slight growl; it was obvious that he did not appreciate the elder of the Akiyama twins thinking that Koike was of a lesser rank.

"That's impossible," Takuya scoffed. "Koike a _king_? Yeah right!"

Gryzmon growled menacingly, fur bristling and would have lunged at the goggle-head, had Koike not shaken his head and waved his hand in a sort of awkward dismissal.

"There's no need to be mean," Izumi scolded lightly, but Takuya continued.

"He only thinks about the final destination; not how to actually get there."

"That's enough," Junpei growled, seeing Koike lower his head slightly.

Glancing around, Tomoki frowned in confusion, "Has anyone seen Bokomon and Neemon?"

* * *

"Oh my word, how simply marvellous!" Bokomon and Neemon alike gaped at the feast that was set before them. "And there's a library too?!"

"Right next door, ma'am," a Gryzmon stated.

"That's the first time someone's called you 'ma'am' without adding 'you're making a scene'," Neemon smiled as he grabbed a leg of chicken, happy that Bokomon was too ecstatic to notice the joke. After a few minutes of stuffing themselves, Neemon glanced at his smaller companion, "Shouldn't we look for the humans?"

"They'll be fine for a little while," Bokomon waved the comment away. "Let's just enjoy this haven a little while longer."

"Hm… okay!"

* * *

Later that night after everyone had enjoyed their share of the plentiful amounts of food that the Gryzmon and humanoid reptiles known as Dinohumon brought them, each of the humans were brought to their bedrooms, their being two people in every room except Koike's, who the Digimon insisted slept in the king-sized bed on his own.

Not that he minded exactly; he would have hated to be in the same room as the cold, emotionless Kouji or the hyperactive Kouichi, Tomoki or Takuya. Junpei and Hatsuharu he wouldn't have minded under normal circumstances, but that night, he just needed to think.

_"That's impossible," Takuya scoffed. "Koike a _king_? Yeah right!"_

"Why is it so impossible?" he whispered, not noticing a small trail of silver-blue smoke creeping into his room through the open window near his bed. He turned on his side, cheek resting on the silken pillow beneath him.

_"He only thinks about the final destination; not how to actually get there."_

"What does he mean?" Koike pondered. "Was it about the fight about stopping earlier? I just thought it would be safer if we got there as soon as possible…"

The smoke crept closer to him as he continued trying to figure out Takuya's previous comment until it was right next to his head.

Slowly, feeling a presence, he turned over, eyes widening in shock as he saw the smoke dart towards him, "Oh shi-"

The smoke entered his ear and Koike shuddered for a brief moment before going limp.

* * *

"Ugh…"

Kouji's eyes flashed open and he turned to glance at the boy in the bed opposite his – Kouichi, who he'd been randomly paired with for the night after drawing straws.

The boy was trembling violently, his eyes squeezed shut, sweat streaming down his face.

"What the-?" Kouji stood up and cautiously walked towards the shivering boy to find that he had not only the first duvet, but also two of the spare ones that Gryzmon had given to them in case the night grew chilly pulled over him.

Hesitantly, Kouji moved to place a hand on Kouichi's forehead, but was cut off when the latter's eyes flashed open and his foot shot out of the bed to meet Kouji's stomach.

Luckily for Kouji, he managed to lean backwards out of the way of the attack thanks to his martial arts training.

"What was that, Kouichi?" he snapped angrily, fists clenched as said raven-haired boy shot up, gasping for breath.

Slowly he turned to look at Kouji with an apologetic look in his eyes, "S-sorry… didn't know it was you…"

"Hn," Kouji's eyes narrowed. "Who did you think it was? The Bogeyman?"

"I spent three nights alone here, was attacked on all three of them, _without_ a spirit, might I add, I was almost killed on two occasions in twenty four hours, one of which included trying to burn me alive, and I just had a nightmare," Kouichi growled in response, glaring at Kouji in an equally fierce manner although neither glare was at the point of a death glare. "Let's see how you'd react."

As Kouji blinked in surprise, Kouichi's eyes widened in realisation and he ducked his head in apology, "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it," Kouji muttered. "Just get back to sleep."

However, the longer-haired of the two couldn't help but wonder what Kouichi's nightmare had been about to have a reaction like that after he woke up, as well as what had happened to him during those three nights alone.

But most importantly at the time for the boy's health, why was he shivering and yet sweating buckets at the same time?

* * *

Koike tossed and turned as the smoke warped his reality into a nightmare.

He was trapped in a dark cave, similar to the one that the group had paused to rest in earlier. At the entrance stood Takuya, smiling at him in an inviting manner.

"Takuya," Koike sighed in relief, walking towards the goggle-head only to freeze as the smile became a sneer.

"You; a king?" Takuya laughed. "Impossible. You only think about the final destination; not the journey. You could half-kill everyone to get halfway there and then push them to go the rest of the way without stopping if it meant getting there sooner."

"That's not… true," Koike gasped, eyes wide as he whipped around to see Kouji glaring at him, one hand in the pocket of his jacket, Kouichi standing beside him with his arms crossed.

"Isn't it?" the later spat. "What was earlier about then, hm?"

"Face it, Chiba," Kouji shook his head. "You're just a liability. You're even weaker than Tomoki was without his spirit."

Koike shook his head in denial, turning, prepared to shove Takuya out of the way only to be met by Tomoki and Junpei's cold faces.

"Isn't it time you grew up," Junpei challenged, "and started thinking about someone other than yourself?"

"I don't only think of myself!" Koike yelled, tears of rage forming in his eyes.

"Fine then," Junpei rolled his eyes. "Isn't it time you stopped putting the plan before your friends?"

"I… I don't…" Koike mumbled, a slow tear trickling out of his eyes as Tomoki sniggered.

"Aw, is the wimp going to cry?" his sneer became a scowl of disgust. "Baby. I can't believe you're supposed to be older than me."

Shaking his head, Koike shoved past them only to be caught and thrown to the ground by Hatsuharu.

"You always were weaker than me," the violin-carrying boy smirked, kicking Koike in the side, forcing him to grunt in pain and curl up to protect his gut from another blow. "When you got the chance, you ran. Even if I wasn't much use, at least I stayed to try and help."

Hatsuharu ceased his kicking and Koike looked up to see the Akiyama twins looming over him.

"Pathetic!" Mizu snarled, face twisted with rage. "Coward! Obnoxious!"

"Fudgepacker!" Miyu yelled randomly. "Deadbeat!"

"Mostro!" Izumi appeared between the two, her normally passive face scrunched into a glare. "Strappo! Nulla!"

Koike had no idea what the words meant, but he knew that they most certainly weren't pleasant.

Then, the insults stopped and Koike glanced up again to see Sachiko offering her hand to help him up.

"Sachiko," he sighed in relief, taking her hand only to scream in pain as she yanked him towards her, pressure-pointing his elbow.

Then she threw him back to the ground, turning her back and uttering the word that had the most effect on the boy so far, "_Worthless."_

Koike shook his head, trembling violently as the world faded into darkness, leaving him only to his own sobs.

**_"Now you see how they will hurt you, and do nothing but hurt you_**," a soft voice cooed. **_"Don't you want to stop that from happening?_**"

"Y-yes," Koike hiccupped. "I-I'd do a-anything for that not t-to happen… not again…"

An orb appeared in front of him, glowing bright red in colour as his eyes glazed over.

**_"I take it that you know what to do_**," the voice whispered.

Koike simply nodded and slowly pulled out his D-Scanner, pointing it at the orb, "Spirit…"

* * *

Sachiko walked into the dining room with Izumi – who she'd shared a room with the previous night – trailing tiredly behind her, "Morning."

All she got in reply was a nod from Kouji and small smiles from Kouichi and Miyu, both of whom looked unusually pale.

"Do you know where Koike is?" Takuya inquired, worry evident in his voice.

"He's not here?" Sachiko glanced around, surprised to find the mousey-haired boy missing. "He never misses breakfast…"

"He'll be fine; it's not our fault he's missing breakfast," Junpei shrugged only to be whacked lightly by Izumi.

"He'll… probably be fine…" Sachiko stated hesitantly before freezing as a loud roar of what was either pain and fury or fear and despair filled the room.

The door crashed open to reveal Koike standing there, eyes blazing as he raised his D-Scanner.

He held it out with his right hand before pulling it back as the screen lit up and raising his left hand until it covered the left hand side of his face, calmly closing his eyes as a single ring of data enveloped it. He then yanked them both as far apart as he could manage, moving his arms so that they completed a full circle combined before slamming his D-Scanner and data-enveloped hand together over his head, "Spirit…" As his hair was blown out of place by the gust of pure energy that followed, he lowered his D-Scanner, allowing the data surrounding his hand to become a large ball of said data and explode. The explosion caused the data to spiral out of control, covering his entire body, "Evolution!"

His hair turned vibrant red in colour as it grew to his ears and his face grew soft and slightly more rounded, like a young child's. One eye became an obsidian colour, the other being an exceptionally light blue, the obsidian one quickly being covered by an eye-patch made of satin. His canines sharpened slightly, although not much in comparison to everyone else's, and his clothes were replaced by a bottle-green coat that reached his thighs. Under the coat were a white shirt and a thin blue bowtie. His trousers were the same green as his shirt while his socks were white, reaching his knees, and his shoes were black with slight heels and a golden buckle. His shoulders were covered by thin black armour, as were his knees, elbows and shins. A pair of black-and-white ears grew from his head and a stumpy, white tail from his back. Slowly, he pulled back his right arm and stretched his left one forwards, cold expression not changing as a black bow appeared between the two hands, an arrow already in it. He then fired his arrow into the air, watching with a bored look as it exploded in a flurry of flames before appearing in his hand again, "Amourmon!"

"What the hell?" Kouji gritted his teeth, pulling out his D-Scanner only for Sachiko to tackle him to the ground.

"Don't even think about it, Minamoto!"

"Not so weak now, am I?" Amourmon growled expressionlessly.

"I never said you were weak!" Kouji growled in response as the doors crashed open again to reveal Bokomon and Neemon running in, the latter's arms filled with food.

"That's Amourmon," Bokomon called, her book already open in her hands, "the Guardian of Love! It appears someone has possessed him!"

"Thanks, genius!" Junpei remarked sarcastically only to yelp and duck as Amourmon aimed his silver arrow at him.

"Artemis' Arrow!"

"Knock it off, Koike!" Takuya yelled as the arrow exploded into a strong gust of wind that almost knocked the heavy wooden table onto Tomoki.

"Not until you let me get my revenge," Amourmon stated simply. "Evolve. Now."

"No way!" Miyu cried.

"Do it or your sister dies," Amourmon threatened, aiming the arrow at Mizu.

Growling, Takuya pulled out his D-Scanner, "Spirit Evolution!"

"Agnimon!"

"Chaidanmon!"

"Chakkumon!"

Neither Sachiko nor Kouji spirit evolved, the former still pinning the later down, while Kouichi gazed hesitantly at his own D-Scanner before shaking his head and pocketing it again.

"Be careful!" Bokomon called. "His arrow's attack will depend on the target!"

"Got it," Agnimon snarled. "Salamander Break!"

"Artemis' Arrow!" this time, a huge waterfall slammed down on Agnimon until he was forced to de-digivolve.

"Uh… ready Chakkumon?" Chaidanmon looked at the bear hesitantly.

"Ready!" he nodded, readying his Romeo launcher as the two called in unison.

"Tritt Bomber!"

This time, Chaidanmon's attack was backed up by a flurry of icy snowballs, but Amourmon easily avoided them, "Artemis' Arrow!"

Another flurry of flames met the two, burning them severely.

As they de-digivolved, Amourmon slowly turned to Kouichi, "Artemis' Arrow!"

The arrow was coated in purple but before Amourmon could attack, Sachiko stood up and lunged in front of Kouichi, "Don't do it, Koike!"

"Sachiko…" he glared at her.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I know that it isn't you!" Sachiko continued, seeing him lower his arrow slightly. "You're the Guardian of _Love_! You care about others, even without that title! We're your friends, Koike; doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Amourmon's eyes cleared slightly only to be clouded again as he screamed in pain, clutching his head tightly.

"I see I have no other choice…" Sachiko mumbled, grabbing her D-Scanner. "Spirit Evolution! Azerimon! Fuchs Klingen!"

As soon as her blade made contact with his body, Amourmon de-digivolved, landing on one knee and gasping for breath as a silvery fog left his body only to be sliced in half by Azerimon, who joined her friend in human form a moment later.

"I… I'm sorry…" he gasped, sweat pouring down his face. "I-i-it was… controlling me…"

"Forget about it," Sachiko smiled warmly, helping her childhood friend up. "We've all done stupid things in life, and messing with you was one of that thing's stupidest ideas."

"Thanks," he cracked a smile before staring at the ground as he noticed Takuya, Tomoki and Miyu watching him.

"Glad to have you back," Takuya grinned after a moment.

Then Tomoki turned to Bokomon and Neemon, "Where were you guys?"

"That's none of your business!" Bokomon shrieked. "Frankly, I'm outraged that you didn't come looking for us before now! We were worried sick!"

"But didn't you say they'd be fine on their own and that we should enjoy the food?" Neemon took a bite of chicken as Bokomon glared at him, much to the amusement of the humans.

"Shut up!"

"So you don't have your mother's Holy Light…"

Everyone whipped around to see a Gryzmon bowing his head in disappointment, "You may have the spirit of Love, but only the Holy Light can govern this world with fairness and justice, without favouritism or bias… I apologise…"

"I'm sorry too," Koike sighed. "I should have let you explain before letting my emotions get in the way."

Gryzmon nodded in acceptance before turning to lead them outside, "Come; I have a friend that owes me a favour who should take you to your destination."

* * *

"Thanks, Gryzmon!" Koike called before turning back to the happy yellow Trailmon who had agreed to take them to the station in the forest… for a price.

"Come on, Junpei; you're the only one who can give her anything!" Takuya grumbled. "You have all the chocolate."

"But…" Junpei began only to sigh. "Fine; you win…"

"Yes! I'm back on four!" Takuya cheered as Junpei pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket.

While he unwrapped it, Miyu, Koike, Kouji, Kouichi and Sachiko climbed on board, only to scream as the door slammed behind them, causing Sachiko to trip into Kouichi, creating a domino effect that ended with them all sprawled on the floor.

"Thanks for the chocolate! I'll make sure they get there safely!" the yellow Trailmon called back, assuming that the five humans inside were the only ones that needed a ride.

"Hey, wait!" Hatsuharu yelled. "We need to go there too!"

Unfortunately for them, the Trailmon was already out of earshot.

"Why does this always happen to us?"

* * *

_Please review, and just because Yagami Hikari is Koike's mom doesn't mean that the other Adventure/Adventure 02 characters will be in this. As I said, I was at a writer's block and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Please review!_

* * *

_Sincerely,  
Your Loyal Author,  
Slinking Fox_


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